Who will help the Hornets defend summer league championship? Here’s the roster
More than a few familiar names are among the crew that will help defend the Charlotte Hornets’ Las Vegas Summer League championship.
Liam McNeeley, Sion James, Ryan Kalkbrenner and Tidjane Salaün were key figures in the Hornets claiming the franchise’s first summer league title a year ago, and they will be a part of the cast looking for a repeat when action tips off in a week. The quartet joins Charlotte’s 2026 first-round picks — Hannes Steinbach and Christian Anderson Jr. — on the 14-player roster.
Alabama product Latrell Wrightsell Jr. and Wyatt Fricks, who played for Marshall, are also headed to the desert with the Hornets. Signed to Exhibit 10 contracts, The Charlotte Observer previously reported, the duo worked out for the Hornets during the pre-draft process, and the team wants to get another look at them in action.
Fricks was the only player in the NCAA last season with over 50 dunks and 50 made 3-pointers, and Wrightsell shot 43% on nearly eight attempts per game from beyond the arc in SEC games in 2025-26.
The Hornets open things up in Las Vegas on July 9 against the Orlando Magic before matching up with New Orleans on July 11. They also have dates with Boston (July 12) and Milwaukee (July 15).
Can the Hornets win the summer league title again?
To get back into the playoff field and have an opportunity to play in the July 19 championship game, the Hornets must finish among the top four teams in the standings. Those teams are determined by winning percentage in each team’s first four games.
Charlotte also has a rules wrinkle to contend with as well.
For summer league games, the NBA is testing out the “one free throw rule” and any foul that would usually result in one, two or three free throws awarded under the league’s standard rules will instead result in a single free throw attempt. That attempt will be worth the same total number of points as the free throws it replaces.
During the final two minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime, however, standard free throw rules will remain in place.
Charlotte Hornets Summer League roster
Michael Ajayi, F, Butler
Josiah Alick, C, Nebraska
Christian Anderson Jr., G, Texas Tech.
Kylian Boswell, G, Illinois
Terrell Brown Jr., G, Washington
Wyatt Fricks, F, Marshall
Sion James, G, Duke
Ryan Kalkbrenner, C, Creighton
Max Mackinnon, G, Louisiana State
Cameron Matthews, F, Mississippi State
Liam McNeeley, F, Connecticut
Tidjane Salaün, F, France
Hannes Steinbach, F/C, Washington
Latrell Wrightsell Jr., G, Alabama
Summer League schedule
July 9: Orlando, 7:30 p.m. ET (Prime)
July 11: New Orleans, 4 p.m. ET (ESPN)
July 12: Boston, 5 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
July 15: Milwaukee, 7:30 p.m. ET (Prime)
