On Tuesday night, the Hornets dropped their first of what will be a two-game road trip against the then-winless New Orleans Pelicans. The game was frustrating for the Charlotte faithful, as the Hornets led for most of the game and ultimately let it slip away late in the fourth quarter. Charlotte was also without its two core stars, LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller. Ball missed his second game in a row with a right ankle injury, something Hornets fans are always worried will come back to bite the team, as Ball has a history of ankle issues. Meanwhile, Miller was out due to a wrist injury that will be reevaluated in roughly two weeks.

The loss put Charlotte at 3-5 on the season, and the Hornets have yet to win two games in a row, despite averaging the eighth-most points per game this season. Even with Miller and LaMelo missing games, the Hornets haven’t had any issues scoring the ball; the problem is on the other end of the floor.

The Hornets have been a bottom-five defense in the NBA this season; their defensive rating ranks 25th in the NBA at 116.9. The Hornets have only had one game where they gave up fewer than 113 points and have zero games where they’ve given up less than 103. A formula where you must score 130 every night to win simply won't work and isn’t sustainable at all.

Fans might be asking, “Well, what are the positives of the season so far?” The answer is this rookie class, who have all been phenomenal in different ways.

Starting with Kon Knueppel. The No. 4 pick is off to a blazing start, especially from 3-point range. Through his first four games, he hit 16 threes, which is an NBA record for a player’s first four games. He hasn’t slowed down either. For the season so far, he’s shooting at a 43% clip from long range. Knuppel is averaging 14 points per game along with 5 boards and just over 2 assists a night. Since seeing an increased role, he's been well above the 14-point mark, scoring 24 and 20 points in his last two games, showing that if needed, he can pick up some slack on offense, and he's been doing it scoring at all three levels, not just long distance. It's so far so good when it comes to Knueppel in Charlotte.

Ryan Kalkbrenner has been a solid player so far, bringing a rim-protecting presence to Charlotte that they weren’t sure they’d have this year. He’s averaging 2.1 blocks per game and is also adding 1.3 steals per game. He’s essentially been the only bright spot defensively for this Charlotte group. He’s still got to be a little more consistent with his production on offense, but with his skill set, he has all the potential to be a double-double machine.

Lastly, there’s Sion James, who's been more productive on offense than most may have expected this early on, averaging just over 9 points a night, and while he isn’t shooting that many of them, he’s shooting a ridiculous 72% from three. Over time, if Charlotte wants to build any sort of defensive identity, James will play a big role in that. He’s arguably Charlotte’s best on-ball defender already. The stats may not show it yet, but with his size and strength as a guard, he’ll develop into a great perimeter defender.

The Hornets have the chance to bounce back on the road against Miami in their first NBA Cup game this season on Friday night. With Ball and Miller likely out, the rookies will have to build on their strong starts and keep up the pace.