The Charlotte Hornets, along with most of the rest of the NBA, held their media day on Monday. General manager Jeff Peterson, head coach Charles Lee, and a few of the players took the stage to answer questions from the media.

Jeff Peterson

Peterson opened his press conference with a few unprompted remarks, starting with thank yous to a few people, including us fan. He also provided updates on players that have been hurt:

• Josh Green and Grant Williams will contribute to winning this season but they’re not ready yet and there’s no definitive timeline for either yet
• LaMelo Ball is good to go and has made a lot of improvements to his strength and conditioning this offseason
• Brandon Miller is a full go but will be wearing tape on his surgically repaired wrist simply as a protective measure
• Tre Mann is good to go after his back issues last season

Later on Peterson reiterated how excited he was for LaMelo Ball in particular with how much work he’s put into his body this offseason. Hopefully that helps him put it all together and fully maximize the talent he’s flashed in his NBA career so far.

Peterson addressed a question about the decision at center in free agency. He said the team had a plan, and the plan goes beyond one year in the future. He said the team identified Mason Plumlee as a good fit, so that’s who they brought in.

It’s no surprise, but Peterson was glowing in his praise for every player that was brought up. He does seem genuinely excited for the direction of the team, but he’s never been one to put out specific expectations. He dodged any question about expectations for specific players or the team’s goals for the season, like he usually does. Instead he opted to talk about stacking positive days and continually improving. That’s not to say that this is another “development year” (though it probably is to some extant), but rather that the team is more concerned with focusing on growth and letting that drive success instead of focusing on the success directly.

Charles Lee

Charles Lee opened the press conference talking about how much he learned from last year’s 19 win season. He met with the coaching staff to talk about what they could improve on last season, including some tweaks to the offensive principles to help the team play faster and create more space. That includes getting the ball out of the hoop faster after makes and pushing the ball up the floor via the pass after misses.

Lee talked up the talent of the guards and their ability to do what he outlined with pushing pace and creating offense. He also spoke highly of the center group and how much versatility they have with their varied skill sets. He compared Ryan Kalkbrenner to Brook Lopez and praised the switchability of both Moussa Diabate and Mason Plumlee.

Both Lee and Peterson talked about Kon Knueppel’s relentless competitiveness. He hated being held out of the first back to back in Summer League and wouldn’t let the staff hold him out even after getting bopped on the head and needing stitches over his eye.

Brandon Miller

Miller is excited for the new pieces that have joined the team. He didn’t seem concerned about his wrist other than regaining confidence in it when falling, bracing himself, and things of that nature. The injury gave him a chance to add some more left hadndedness to his game and he got more mental reps through film and the like.

Kon Knueppel

Knueppel talked about his desire to show that he can defend at the NBA level and expects to surprise people with his athleticism. He’s not a big talker. His interview was about eight minutes of coach speak.

LaMelo Ball

Speaking of non-talkers, LaMelo still isn’t the most engaging media personality. He does look noticeably bigger in the arms and shoulders, but the tattoos might contribute to that too. He’s excited to have Tre Mann back and is super excited to have Collin Sexton around. He was asked what’s surprised him about Knueppel, and he said Knueppel has more bounce than he thought.