The Eastern Conference is more competitive this year than it has been in a long time. There are 13 different teams who could legitimately end up in the play-in, and in turn, the playoffs. Luckily, this also happens to be the year that the Charlotte Hornets are looking to make a jump. However, the competitive balance means that they are going to be forced to fight that much harder to earn their first playoff appearance in five seasons.
The last time Charlotte reached the postseason, LaMelo Ball was in high school, Nicolas Batum was playing 35 minutes a night, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist shot 42.