Charlotte Hornets ranked 25th in front office rankings

ESPN released their list of best front offices in the National Basketball Association, and the Charlotte Hornets found themselves in near the bottom for the second straight year.

The Hornets earned an overall score of 4.60, which ranks them 25th in the league, just behind the Sacramento Kings (4.63). The only teams ranked lower than them are the Timberwolves, Nuggets, Lakers, Nets and Knicks. A year ago, Charlotte earned a score of 4.71, which was good for 22nd overall.

The list was put together by ESPN Forecast's panel, so we can't blame just one person for the low ranking. Panel members were asked to "rate every team's owner, basketball decision-maker(s) and coach from 0 to 10, and we then asked the panel to tell us how important each role is."

"In particular, we asked the voters to rate each team's front-office management on its guidance and leadership in terms of how it affects overall on-court success, both in the short and long term. From there, we calculated the ratings to determine the NBA's best and worst front offices."

ESPN says they will go into further detail on the three categories — owner, team presidents/general manager and coaches — from Wednesday to Friday.

It makes sense for the team to be ranked so low on the list. The season in general has been an unsuccessful one, to put it nicely. The team was unable to sign Gordon Hayward in the offseason, and backup plan/prized signing Lance Stephenson has not panned out like anyone hoped it would. The team has become increasingly streaky on the court (injuries have not helped at all either). Hopefully Rich Cho will get his due and rank highly on the list, though with Charlotte's overall score was 4.60, that seems unlikely.

For those curious, the top five on the list are the Spurs, Warriors, Heat, Mavericks and Rockets.