Charlotte Hornets Odds

Charlotte Hornets 2025-26 Season Preview

The Charlotte Hornets enter the 2025-26 NBA season in a transitional phase with an eye on building toward respectability while remaining realistic about immediate championship ambitions. After several seasons near the bottom of the standings, the franchise appears to be doubling down on youth and flexibility, aiming for steady improvement rather than a sudden breakout. The Hornets seem to have improved culture and development of their core, but are still likely a year or two away from serious Eastern Conference contention.

Key Changes & Roster Highlights

The Hornets re-signed Tre Mann to a three-year deal, preserving a promising young guard with upside. They added veterans for depth and experience, such as Spencer Dinwiddie and Mason Plumlee, signaling a focus on both development and competitiveness. In the 2025 NBA Draft, they made multiple selections including Kon Knueppel (4th pick) and Liam McNeeley (29th), injecting youthful talent into the roster.

Strengths

Young core with upside: With players like Mann and recent draft picks, Charlotte has a foundation that could mature into a solid group in coming years.

Flexibility and asset accumulation: The Hornets have not locked themselves into long-term expensive contracts and are positioning for future moves.

Improved depth and veteran presence: The addition of experienced players should help the development environment and raise the floor of the roster.

Areas of Concern

Win-now competitiveness: While improving, Charlotte is likely still some distance away from the Eastern Conference’s upper tier. “Playoff contention” may remain aspirational for this season. 

Defense and identity: Reports indicate the team still needs a reliable center and better perimeter defense. 

Injuries / star health: LaMelo Ball, a key piece, has dealt with injuries; his availability and performance will heavily influence how much the Hornets can rise. 

2025-26 Outlook

Expect the Hornets to take a step forward, perhaps moving from lottery status into a higher draft seed or low playoff seed, but not yet being main contenders for the conference title. Key benchmarks for a “successful” season might include: showing consistent improvement, developing young talent (especially the draft picks, Brandon Miller, and Mann), and possibly competing for a play-in or lower playoff seed.

Betting on the Charlotte Hornets

• Moneyline: You can bet Charlotte to win individual games — especially when young players are motivated and facing other rebuilding teams.
• Point Spread: Because they are likely underdogs in many games, the spread may offer value when they have home-court and rested talent.
• Over/Under (Totals): Since the Hornets may still be inconsistent, games can swing widely — consider match-ups where they face fast-paced opponents or other young teams.
• Prop Bets: Young players stepping into larger roles mean props on individual performances (e.g., Mann’s points/assists) could be attractive.
• Futures Odds: Bets such as Hornets making the playoffs, winning the Southeast Division, or a young player winning "Most Improved" might offer long-term value given the franchise’s trajectory.

Hornets Moneyline

A moneyline bet requires a bettor to correctly pick the winner of the game. If you pick the winner of the game correctly, you will win the bet. How much you win will be determined by your wager amount and the associated moneyline for the team you bet on. Here's an example using a recent Hornets game against the Heat.

• Heat -182 moneyline
• Hornets +150 moneyline

Miami is the team favored to win this game, which is indicated by the minus sign (-) next to their moneyline. Charlotte is the underdog denoted by the plus sign (+) next to their moneyline. The moneyline number signifies the potential payout for each team. Someone betting on Miami would have to bet $182 to win $100 whereas a bettor would win $150 with a wager of $100 on Charlotte.

Hornets Point Spread

Users can also place a point spread wager on the Charlotte Hornets. This requires a bettor to correctly select the margin of victory by a particular team, rather than simply who wins. Here's the same Hornets vs. Heat matchup as an example.

• Heat -4.5 (-113)
• Hornets +4.5 (-108)

Oddsmakers set a margin of victory total known as the spread. In this game, Miami has to win by 5 or more points to beat this spread and Charlotte either has to win the game outright or lose by 4 points or less to beat the spread. Point spreads also have an additional element known as juice, or the vig, which is the tax paid to the sportsbook for each bet. The juice is indicated next to the point spread. This number is used to determine a wager payout. For a bet on the Heat, a bettor would earn a profit of $100 for every $113 risked. Someone betting on Charlotte would also earn a profit of $100 for every $108 risked.

Hornets Over/Unders

Betting on over/under totals looks at the cumulative final score between two teams, not the winner or loser of the game. Bettors are required to accurately predict if the teams combine higher or lower than a number set by oddsmakers. Oddsmakers set the over/under total for Hornets vs. Heat at 227.5 points.

• Over 227.5 points (-109)
• Under 227.5 points (-110)

Again, juice or vig comes into play with over/unders. Betting over 227.5 points means in this case that a bettor would have to wager $109 to earn $100. Betting under 227.5 points would mean a bettors would earn $100 for every $110 risked.

Hornets Prop Bets

For those Charlotte Hornets fans that have a particular favorite player, prop bets are a great way to bet on them. Oddsmakers will also set lines on player statistics. Bettors then have the opportunity to guess whether those players will go over or under the set line to win money. Some popular prop bets include how many points a player will score, who will score first, how many rebounds a player gets, and many more.

Hornets Future Odds

Charlotte Hornets 2025-2026 long-term outcomes, like the Hornets to make the playoffs, win the Southeast Division, win the Eastern Conference, win the NBA Finals, or even individual awards like LaMello Ball winning league MVP.

How to Bet on the Charlotte Hornets

Unfortunately, online sports betting is not currently legal in the state of North Carolina, but there is legislation pending that could legalize it in 2022. Stay up to date and keep track of when it will become legal by reading our North Carolina sports betting page.

While that legislation works its way through the state congress, residents can enjoy legal alternatives to online sports betting like dailiy fantasy games. PrizePicks is among the most simple and exciting DFS games in North America because users just have to place their bets, pick their favorite players, and choose over/under totals for a chance to win cash. Sign up for the PrizePicks app now!