- 👀The Charlotte Hornets are again on the search for a new head coach.
- 📈Below, our experts reveal exclusive odds to be the next Hornets head coach.
- 🏀Celtics assistant Charles Lee is the favorite, though Lindsey Harding could be the surprise hire.
For the seventh time since 2012-13, the Charlotte Hornets are officially in need of a new head coach, with Steve Clifford leaving to take an executive role with the franchise after going 48-116 in his second stint with the franchise.
The Hornets have now gone eight years in a row without a playoff berth and last won a postseason series in 2002, speaking to the long-running struggle in the Queen City when it comes to fielding a winner on the hardwood. Luckily for Charlotte fans, a fresh crop of talented assistant coaches and basketball lifers are on the market this offseason, which could allow GM Jeff Peterson and President James R. Jordan to land a quality coach in 2024.
Where will the Hornets look? BetCarolina.com, your top source for North Carolina sports betting, has compiled hypothetical odds on who may lead LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and the rest of the Hornets into the 2024-2025 NBA season.
Charlotte Hornets Next Head Coach Odds
These are hypothetical odds from our experts at BetCarolina.com. These odds are not available on North Carolina sports betting apps.
Right now, it seems like Boston Celtics assistant coach Charles Lee is the frontrunner to replace Clifford in Charlotte, with the 39-year-old longtime coach sitting at +450 after serving on the bench with the Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks and Celtics between 2014 and 2024.
Other Contenders For Hornets Coach
Throw in fellow assistant coaches in the association like Chris Quinn of the Miami Heat and David Adelman of the Denver Nuggets (+700 each), ESPN analyst J.J. Redick and Mavericks assistant coach Sean Sweeney (+1000 each) and you have the frontrunners to be the next head coach in Charlotte.
Then you have the longshot candidates, including Royal Ivey of the Houston Rockets and Jordan Ott of the Los Angeles Lakers (+1250 each), Utah Jazz assistant Lamar Skeeter, Sacramento Kings G-League head coach Lindsey Harding, and former Vanderbilt Commodores head coach and NBA veteran Jerry Stackhouse (+2000 each) rounding out our list at the moment.
Whichever candidate gets the job in Charlotte has the unenviable task of guiding the Hornets back to the postseason for the first time in nearly a decade in 2024, though North Carolina’s lone NBA franchise will have a lofty pick in the 2024 NBA Draft lottery to build around.
With a youthful core and that high draft pick, there’s reason to believe that the future could be full of promise in the Queen City, though much of that upward trajectory rests on the coaching hire that Peterson and Jordan make in the near-distant future.
Could the Charlotte Hornets' new ownership really circle back to Atkinson? It’s unlikely, but stranger things have happened in the NBA.
Stay with BetCarolina.com as we keep you updated on the latest Hornets news. Be sure to check out our best North Carolina sportsbook promos as well.
USA Today photo by Nell Redmond.
