Hannes Steinbach probably isn't sending out any postcards these days telling family and friends and his former University of Washington teammates how wonderful the NBA is.

For one reason, he's not in the league at the moment.

On Thursday, the Charlotte Hornets, in somewhat of a head-scratching move, demoted their 6-foot-10 first-round draft pick and the 14th player taken overall to the G League, to the Greensboro Swarm up the road in North Carolina.

The NBA franchise is calling it a developmental move.

Not sure how Steinbach describes it.

The Wurzburg, Germany, native and one-done Husky heads to the minors after appearing in just three games for the 3-6 Hornets, all lopsided losses to the Atlanta Hawks, the Washington Wizards and the Detroit Pistons.

No doubt this isn't what Steinbach envisioned at all in how his pro basketball career should begin.

At least he's getting paid.

OFFICIAL: @hornets have assigned forward Hannes Steinbach to the @greensboroswarm pic.twitter.com/B166QXXTTb

— Greensboro Swarm (@greensboroswarm) November 5, 2026

Once drafted in June, Steinbach signed a four-year, $24.9 million contract with the Hornets, with $10.7 million guaranteed, at $6.2 million per year.

Only he'll be spending it in Greensboro coffee shops and other distant basketball outposts for the time being, far off the NBA beaten path.

Even while he's been handsomely compensated, Steinbach couldn't be faulted if he's second-guessing his decision to leave the Huskies and a higher level of basketball to go wander through the minors and play in front of sparse crowds. At the UW, he averaged 18.5 points and 11.8 rebounds per outing in 30 appearances.

There's not many developmental positives to running the floor in anonymity.

Shortly after getting drafted, Steinbach looked as if he might make an early impact as a pro player by averaging 15.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game for Charlotte in the NBA Summer League.

Yet there have been early criticisms that he doesn't have an established 3-point shot or defend around the rim in a way that is necessary for him to pull a lot of NBA minutes.

Steinbach hails from the same German town that produced 7-foot Dirk Nowitzki, who played 21 seasons for the Dallas Mavericks and is considered the greatest European basketball player of all time.

As a rookie in the 1998-99 season, Nowitzki appeared in 47 games and started 24, so he had to pay some basketball dues, but nothing as severe as Steinbach.

There was no G League back then. It wouldn't come into operation for two more years. Besides, the Mavs realized what they had and put him on the floor.

It appears Steinbach ended up with the wrong NBA franchise, one with a history of making bad personnel decisions, one that has been a perennial loser.

It's an outfit that doesn't totally believe in him or really see the underlying benefits to his game. For his sake, maybe the Hornets will move him to another franchise rather than let him waste away in the depths of the G League or on their NBA bench.