It’s been a decade since the Hornets last reached the Playoffs, the longest active drought in the NBA.

With a revamped roster and a fresh direction, Charlotte is looking to change that. And through six games, there have been both encouraging signs and early obstacles.

Tonight on NBA TV (6 ET), the 3-3 Hornets look to bounce back from Friday’s loss to Washington as they host the 5-1 Sixers – a big opportunity for a team searching for a signature win.

Ahead of the matchup, we examine three takeaways from the Hornets’ first six games.

Early tests, by committee

The Hornets won 44 games last year, their most since 2015-16, including a 33-16 mark since Jan. 1 to reach the SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament.

But after falling to Orlando in the Play-In, Charlotte opted for a new direction, trading LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges while bringing in a new group of veterans to build around Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel.

For head coach Charles Lee, the overhaul meant a new roster to shape in his third season.

“This roster, we’re going to talk a ton about trying to do it by committee,” Lee said at Media Day. “The thing that I love about the word ‘committee,’ too, is that it has the word ‘commitment.’ And you have to commit. It’s about your actions, embracing every day. Trying to elevate the guy next to you – expecting excellence.”

That by-committee approach has been tested early, with Knueppel (hamstring), Coby White (calf) and Grant Williams (hamstring) all missing the first six games of the season.

The returns have been mixed. Three newcomers – Naz Reid (16.2 ppg), Grayson Allen (13.5) and Dennis Schröder (13.0) – rank among the team’s top four scorers.

But the Hornets are last in offensive rating (99.2) and have the two lowest-scoring totals in the NBA this season: 81 points in an Oct. 23 loss to Atlanta and 79 in Friday’s defeat to Washington.

Yet Lee’s squad has answered defensively. After posting a 113.5 defensive rating last season, Charlotte has improved that number to 108.0 through its first six games – the seventh-best mark in the NBA.

Despite the offensive struggles and key absences, the Hornets have stayed afloat by embracing what Lee preached this offseason: a commitment to doing it by committee.

Brandon Miller’s leap

In Monday’s win over Washington, Miller dropped a career-high 39 points while becoming the second-fastest player in NBA history to hit 500 3-pointers, doing so in just 170 games.

The milestone reflected how productive Miller has been through his first three seasons. The performance offered a glimpse of just how scary the 23-year-old can become.

With Ball and Bridges gone, and Knueppel and White sidelined, Miller has shouldered Charlotte’s scoring load – and delivered.

Miller was held to 19 points Friday, ending a streak of three straight 30-point games, the longest of his career. Still, the year 4 wing is averaging a career-best 24.5 ppg through six games.

And it’s how he’s scored that’s stood out.

As Charlotte’s clear No. 1 option, he’s averaging the same points off catch-and-shoot opportunities as last season (6.7), but he’s leveled up as a shot creator off the dribble. With defenses keying in on him, Miller has looked more decisive attacking the basket, averaging career highs in drives (14.2) and points per game off drives (10.0).

That evolution has created a more balanced shot diet, as 47.6% of his points this season have come on 2-pointers – the highest mark of his career. Perhaps the scariest part? Miller’s scoring at a career rate despite shooting just 26.5% from 3-point range, well below his career average of 36.8%.

His impact has also carried over to the other end, where he’s posting a career-best 103.1 defensive rating, the best mark of any Hornet logging 20-plus minutes per game.

“When your best player is being elite on defense and offense, it makes you a really good team,” Lee said on Monday.

The Diabaté difference

Miller is Charlotte’s go-to guy. But the Hornets have another X-factor.

Despite the offensive struggles, Charlotte has won games in the margins, particularly on the offensive glass, where they rank second in rebounds per game (15.2).

Leading the charge? Moussa Diabaté, who’s averaging an NBA-best 5.7 offensive boards per game.

Listed as a forward, the 6-foot-10, 230-pound Diabaté has started every game at the five for Charlotte this season. And while often facing bigger, more imposing bodies inside, Diabaté has thrived through his unrelenting intensity.

Now in his fifth season, Diabaté is averaging career highs in points (9.3), rebounds (9.8) and steals (1.8).

That includes a monster performance on Monday, when he posted 11 points, 17 rebounds (with a career-high 11 offensive boards) and three blocks against a Wizards frontcourt featuring Anthony Davis and Alex Sarr.

He followed it up with another double-double Friday against Washington, finishing with 10 points and 12 boards.

“No matter who it is, or no matter what it is, I’m trying to play as hard as I can,” Diabaté said Monday. “I’m a firm believer that [if] you play the right way, with the right energy, good things are gonna happen – whether it’s gonna show up in the stats or not.”

Look closer, and the stats reflect his impact. Diabaté’s 21 total second-chance points are the eighth-most in the NBA this season, and the Hornets have yet to be outrebounded in a game.

It’s the kind of commitment Lee has preached since the offseason, and one Charlotte will continue to lean on as its new roster – and identity – comes together.