After not seeing any action in the Charlotte Hornets' season opener, former Washington Huskies star forward Hannes Steinbach made his NBA debut at home in a 128-81 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

Across 12 minutes of action, all of which came in the fourth quarter, he posted 6 points and grabbed 5 rebounds on a 3-of-5 day from the field, while he missed his only free throw attempt of the contest. As coach Charles Lee continues to work out his rotation in the frontcourt, Steinbach may struggle to find minutes early in the year.

Currently, the Hornets are utilizing a rotation of Naz Reid, Royce O'Neale, and Tidjane Salune at forward, with Moussa Diabate and Ryan Kalkbrenner at center as Steinbach continues to get comfortable at the NBA level.

The biggest area of improvement most scouts wanted to see from Steinbach after his one year at Washington was on the defensive end of the floor, and Lee could be working the German standout into things slowly with the veteran depth ahead of him as he continues to grow on defense.

“A couple of things I loved were number one, our defense,” Lee said after Charlotte's season-opening win over the Brooklyn Nets. “We set a tone...that’s going to be our identity no matter what’s going on offensively. We want to really commit to that end of the floor.”

As the Hornets gear up for a back-to-back on Saturday night against the Miami Heat, Steinbach's output on the offensive end should help him earn consideration for more minutes moving forward.