The Charlotte Hornets will host the Atlanta Hawks at Spectrum Center on Wednesday.

The Hornets are coming off another disastrous season in 2022-23, where they finished near the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 27-55 record, and to make things even worse, they couldn’t secure the first overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. The addition of Brandon Miller should be positive for the long-term future of the franchise, but outside of him, LaMelo Ball and the frontcourt combo of Mark Williams and P.J. Washington, the Hornets do not have a lot to be excited about in the short-term or even medium-term future. Charlotte posted a disappointing 13-28 mark at home last season as well, and things are not expected to change drastically for the Hornets in 2023-24. Reaching the Play-In Tournament would be a massive success for them.

Bryce McGowens (ankle) has been tabbed as a game-time call for Wednesday, while Cody Martin (knee), James Bouknight (knee), Miles Bridges (suspension) and Frank Ntilikina (knee) have been ruled out.

The Hawks are on a different spectrum compared to the Hornets when it comes to analyzing the Eastern Conference hierarchy, and while they’re not contenders to make a deep postseason run, they should have enough in them to, at least, battle for a playoff spot. The franchise traded away John Collins in the offseason and are ready to go all in in their backcourt duo of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray, but ultimately, the franchise lives and dies with what Young can do on the offensive end of the court. Atlanta also has some interesting pieces, such as Deandre Hunter, Saddiq Bey and the center duo of Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu, so they should be a playoff contender in the East.

Ahead of the season opener, the Hawks are listing Wesley Matthews (calf) as out, but the rest of the roster is healthy and ready to go.