What Jeff Peterson said about Charlotte Hornets’ offseason moves
Knowing the ink is dry on the contract and things are locked in, Coby White couldn’t be more thrilled.
Getting traded to the Charlotte Hornets in February apparently was a life-changing experience for White, a good way to reinvigorate some competitive juices that soured a bit during his final days playing for the Chicago Bulls.
“I finished the season here and I loved every minute of it,” White said Tuesday. “I always tell people, Chicago at the beginning of the year was hard for me, just battling injuries with my calves and stuff. You kind of let outside stuff take away your joy for the game.
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“And then once I got here, just being around everybody, getting to know everybody, seeing what kind of transitions they were trying to make in terms of the culture and stuff like that, what they were trying to build, I knew it was something that I wanted to be a part of long term. So, it kind of reignited my joy for the game and obviously wanted to re-sign and come back.”
The Hornets made White their chief offseason priority, ensuring the North Carolina native didn’t get to the open unrestricted free agent market by signing him to a pact for three years that will pay him $74 million. He’s in the driver’s seat as the starting point guard now following the trade of LaMelo Ball to Minnesota. The reigns are all his.
Don’t expect anything outside of the norm, though. It’s not White’s style.
“I think just being myself,” White said. “Don’t overthink it. Just be who I am. I think being who I am has gotten me this far and it’s going to continue to get me farther. So, just be Coby White. I don’t have to be nobody else. You don’t have to be anything out of the ordinary. And I think just continue to get better.
“I’m excited for the opportunity that’s in front of me. Obviously, build some relationships with guys that were already here. So, excited to get back on the court with them and continue to improve.”
The return of White keys the Hornets’ roster shift, triggered with the departure of Ball and his alley-oop buddy Miles Bridges. Aside from trading for Dorian Finney-Smith, who likely won’t be on the roster when opening night rolls around in the fall as The Charlotte Observer reported, the Hornets’ activity has been relatively tame since free agency began on June 30.
This despite an appearance in the play-in tournament for the first time in four years, even though they couldn’t punch an official postseason ticket thanks to falling to the Orlando Magic in the tournament’s second round.
But Jeff Peterson, the Hornets’ president of basketball operations, insists the franchise’s long-term vision remains intact.
And he has a message for fans who are unsure of where things are headed.
“The goal has never been to get to the playoffs one time and be out for seven, eight years and try to get back,” Peterson said. “I think the roster that we have will give us the best chance moving forward. Again, I like all the pieces. We are going to continue to build it the right way.
”We are not going to take shortcuts. We are going to be methodical and figure out how to put the best product on the floor and fans to be happy and excited about. And at the same time, how can we continue that sustainability that we talk about?”
White gave a stamp of approval to the Hornets as currently constructed.
“I think we’ve got a really, really, really, really great team,” White said. “We obviously got a lot of guys who can do a lot of different things and play a lot of different positions. So, I’m excited. I’m looking forward to getting on the court with these guys. I really like our roster. Continue to build and continue to build a culture of winning.
“I’m not a guy that looks forward to the future and stuff. I kind of live my life in the present. I like what we have and we’ve just got to continue to get better as a team and as a unit.”
Back in the fold, White made sure to put his stamp on things immediately.
He appeared at an event in conjunction with My Brother’s Keeper Charlotte-Mecklenburg and the Coby White Family Foundation, standing alongside nearly a dozen youth of the community to celebrate the design and customization of shoes reflecting their identity and aspirations.
And to show their support, several members of the Hornets’ hierarchy made an appearance at White’s event. Along with Peterson and vice president of basketball operations Ryan Gisriel, coach Charles Lee and assistant coach Lamar Skeeter made the short trek from uptown to the west wide just off Beaties Ford Road.
“Coming from Chicago, when I was there I embraced that as my community and it kind of adopted me as that,” White said. “I just wanted to kind of just put my footprint here now that I’m in Charlotte and obviously re-signed. So, I feel like it’s my community now, too and hopefully they embrace me as that.
“I just wanted to get back and then obviously this was a dope idea.”
Which is why he didn’t just simply cut a check. It’s about more than that for White.
“It’s definitely different — you build relationships,” White said. “Some of those kids in there told me, like one kid said, ‘You’re kind of the reason I got back into basketball, just the way you play and stuff like that. So, you never know whose lives you’re impacting, especially like on the court. And then to be in person and actually hear from them direct, face-to-face, it means a lot.
“So it’s bigger than. It’s bigger than just writing a check or just making a video. So just being here in person means a lot.”
Akin to those same emotions that bubbled up inside White upon re-signing.
“It always feels good to feel wanted no matter who you are,” White said. “So, they’ve embraced me. The welcoming I got here is unimaginable. And just getting to know everybody, the coaching staff, getting to know Jeff and the ownership has been really dope for me. Obviously, I’m back here in North Carolina too, so that played a part as well.
“But they embraced me with open arms since Day One. They traded for me and they told me from the jump that they wanted me to be a Hornet for a long time. So I’m just glad that everything’s coming to fruition.”
This story was originally published July 7, 2026 at 3:07 PM with the headline "What Jeff Peterson said about Charlotte Hornets’ offseason moves."
