The Hornets are waiving Pat Connaughton, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). The team has confirmed the news (via Twitter).

Connaughton had looked like the odd man out in Charlotte for some time. The veteran wing was the only player on a standard contract whose salary was non-guaranteed, and the Hornets had 16 players under contract, which they needed to reduce to 15 before the season.

The 41st overall pick in the 2015 draft, Connaughton spent three years in Portland to open his NBA career before signing with Milwaukee in the 2018 offseason. The 6’5″ guard/forward became a rotation regular during his time with the Bucks, including playing an important role off the bench when Milwaukee won its first championship in 50 years in 2021.

Injuries took a toll on Connaughton in recent years, and the Bucks attached a couple of second-round picks to shed his salary in the 2025 offseason.

While Connaughton rarely played in his first season in Charlotte, averaging just 7.1 minutes per game in 42 appearances, he acted as a locker room leader for a young team that exceeded expectations, particularly in the final two-thirds of 2025/26.

The Hornets showed in February that they valued Connaughton. After initially waiving him ahead of the trade deadline to accommodate other roster additions, Charlotte re-signed the 33-year-old to a two-year, veteran’s minimum contract.

Across his 11 seasons in the league, Connaughton has averaged 5.8 points and 3.3 rebounds on .438/.357/.767 shooting splits in 637 regular season games, including 72 starts (18.4 minutes per game).

More to come…