The Charlotte Hornets lost a seven-game series to the Miami Heat and now enter an uncertain offseason. With so many players hitting free agency, who can they afford to keep?

The 2015 NBA Finals were won when the Golden State Warriors swapped out their starting center for another wing player and spaced out the floor in a “small” lineup. Andre Iguodala kick-started the Warriors’ offense and the Cavaliers were helpless to prevent Golden State from winning three straight games en route to a title.

This offseason, a number of teams moved to mimic the Warriors, adjusting their rosters and offensive playbooks to fit playing small ball. Those teams mostly flopped this year, unable to succeed in the ways that Golden State did. Washington fell out of the playoffs, Indiana found success only when it went back to a traditional lineup and Houston barely reached .500 in a disastrous season that included the firing of their coach.

One team was written off before the year began, their best defender out for months with a torn labrum and their roster too devoid of talent to make this change work. They were mocked for their short-term draft selection, derided for their awkwardly fitting parts and predicted to finish near the bottom of the league.

And yet the Charlotte Hornets defied everyone and won 48 games this season, with former small forward Marvin Williams manning the 4 and a collection of wings replacing Michael-Kidd Gilchrist at the 3. Without losing their defensive tenacity, they shot and passed their way to the ninth-best offense in the NBA, up from 28th last season.

Their run ended in a Round 1 Game 7, where they lost 106-73 to the Miami Heat. That loss brought them face to face with the reality they ignored until now: no playoff team had more minutes devoted to players on expiring contracts. Four of their five starters and their sixth man will walk unless Charlotte takes action to re-sign them. The season may have ended, but their work is just beginning.