Jeff Peterson will now oversee the Hornets’ rebuilding efforts.

Charlotte Hornets Co-Chairmen Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin announced today the team has hired Jeff Peterson as its Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations. In this role, Peterson becomes the organization’s chief basketball decision-maker while also being responsible for leading the team’s day-to-day basketball operations.

“We’re excited to have Jeff join the Charlotte Hornets as the new leader of our basketball operations,” said Schnall and Plotkin. “He shares our vision, our values and our goal of becoming the premier franchise in the NBA. Jeff is a rising star in our league who is known for his player evaluation, his communication skills and his ability to develop strong relationships. His experience of having worked with multiple organizations and different general managers will be a great benefit to us. We look forward to working with Jeff as we continue to build our team and we want to welcome him to Charlotte.”

Peterson, 35, joins the Hornets after four-plus seasons as assistant general manager for the Brooklyn Nets. While with Brooklyn, he played a key role in helping engineer several significant player acquisitions, including signing Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving as free agents, trading for James Harden, Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson, and drafting Cam Thomas and Nic Claxton. During his tenure with the Nets, Peterson oversaw Brooklyn’s college scouting department and added the team’s pro scouting department to his responsibilities in the last two seasons.

“I’m thrilled to be joining the Charlotte Hornets and I’m excited to get started,” said Peterson. “I want to thank Rick and Gabe for this opportunity and entrusting me with this team. I believe in their vision of building the premier franchise in Charlotte. Establishing a winning culture will take hard work, creative ideas and a collaborative approach, and I’m excited by the challenge ahead. The Carolinas are basketball country and Hornets fans are some of the most loyal in the NBA. I look forward to being a part of this community and experiencing that passion.”

Prior to his time with the Nets, Peterson spent seven years with the Atlanta Hawks, including the last three years as the team’s assistant general manager. He started his career in Atlanta as a seasonal basketball operations assistant in 2012 and after one season was promoted to coordinator of basketball operations. He was named the Hawks’ director of scouting in 2015 before being promoted to assistant general manager at the age of 27.

A native of Springfield, Missouri, Peterson played college basketball at Iowa, Arkansas and Florida State. Peterson earned an undergraduate degree in marketing at Arkansas and his master’s degree in marketing at Florida State. He was named to The Athletic’s NBA 40 Under 40 List in May 2022.

Peterson will be introduced at a press conference on Wednesday at 11 a.m. in the Main Lobby of Spectrum Center. The press conference will air live on hornets.com, the Hornets App, the Bally Sports app, BallySports.com and WFNZ (92.7 FM). Media wishing to attend should RSVP to Jack Brandsgard (jbrandsgard@hornets.com). Media members should enter through the Rick Bonnell Media & Employee Entrance and bring their 2023-24 Hornets season credential, if applicable.