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Charlotte Hornets
Overall: 27
Title track: 104
Ownership: 54
Coaching: 42
Players: 37
Fan relations: 40
Affordability: 8
Stadium experience: 58
Bang for the buck: 18
Change from last year: +56
The buzz is officially back. In the second season since they reclaimed their bug-eyed identity from New Orleans, the Hornets finished with the highest win total (48) since pro basketball returned to Charlotte more than a decade ago. Their playoff run lasted but one round, but the future remains bright, and the team's jump of 56 spots from last year was the second-largest in sports.
What's good
The Hornets missed out on being the cheapest ticket in basketball by a measly 40 cents (at $30.60 a ticket, they're a hair more expensive than the Pelicans). But add $5 parking and a free program, and the Hornets are the best deal in the sport, especially considering they went 30-11 at home last year (good for a bang for the buck ranking of 18th overall and fifth in the NBA). Although the team still doesn't feature a true superstar, it does have Steve Clifford, who has pieced together a top-10 defense in each of his three seasons and has rightfully earned a reputation as one of the brightest minds in coaching (at 42nd overall, he's up 46 spots).
What's bad
The on-court product is finally worth the modest price of admission, and the fan base has warmly embraced the return of Hugo & Co., but fans still aren't convinced this team has a title in it (104th in title track). Twenty-two other NBA fan bases gave their squads better scores than the Hornets in expectancy to win a title during their lifetimes. Another blow to the Hornets' fan relations and stadium experience (40th and 58th, respectively): The NBA pulled the 2017 All-Star Game over objections to North Carolina's House Bill 2.
What's new
In the summer of 2015, the Hornets took heed of the machine forming out in Oakland and loaded up on players boasting similar profiles: offensively skilled, versatile shooters. The resulting roster -- ranked 37th overall by the fans, up an astonishing 64 spots -- didn't place the team on quite the same fast track to a title, but this squad was right on the cusp of a breakthrough postseason before it squandered a 3-2 series lead to the Miami Heat. A 25-spot jump in stadium experience is in part thanks to a new, state-of-the-art scoreboard above center court that is both pricey ($7 million) and enormous (42.8 feet wide and 25.2 feet tall on the sideline, 31.3 feet wide and 18 feet tall on the baseline). "The Hive" will now be "the biggest living room, likely, in Charlotte," Pete Guelli, the team's executive vice president and chief marketing officer, recently told the Charlotte Observer.
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