Month: May 2024

2022 NBA Offseason Preview: Charlotte Hornets

May 30th, 2022 at 2:46pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hornets took some real steps forward in 2021/22. After posting a 33-39 record and the NBA’s 23rd-best net rating (-1.9) a year earlier, Charlotte registered a positive net rating and won an additional 10 games, finishing at 43-39.

The end result was the same, however. In both years, the Hornets finished 10th in the Eastern Conference, went on the road for their first play-in game, and lost it in blowout fashion due to a lackluster defensive performance.

Rather than focusing on the positive strides the Hornets made this past season, the team’s front office and ownership group instead focused on the repeated play-in disappointments. As a result, head coach James Borrego was dismissed and roster changes are likely around the corner for a Hornets team looking to play more than just a single postseason game in 2023.

The Hornets’ Offseason Plan:

The Hornets are the only NBA team that still has a head coaching vacancy, after the Kings and Lakers filled their respective openings. Hiring a replacement for Borrego will be the first order of business and will be one of the most important decisions of the offseason.

Ideally, Charlotte would want a coach capable of maximizing LaMelo Ball‘s talents, developing prospects like James Bouknight and Kai Jones, solidifying the defense, and turning a lottery team into a legitimate playoff threat. Finding a candidate who checks all those boxes won’t be easy.

Mike D’Antoni‘s name has frequently been linked to the Charlotte job, which makes some sense given his history with point guards, but he’s not exactly known as a defensive mastermind. Darvin Ham was reportedly considered a serious candidate, but he’s off the table now that he has agreed to coach the Lakers. Frank Vogel, Terry Stotts, Kenny Atkinson, David Vanterpool, Charles Lee, and Sean Sweeney are among the others who have reportedly interviewed, but it’s unclear whether any of them have captured the Hornets’ imagination with their vision for the franchise.

Once their head coaching search is complete, the Hornets will shift their focus to addressing a roster that still has a few holes. I’d expect the front office to do all it can to retain restricted free agent Miles Bridges, who was the team’s leading scorer in 2021/22. Charlotte would presumably prefer not to go all the way up to the maximum salary to re-sign Bridges, and it’s possible that won’t be necessary if no other team makes a serious run at him. But the cost to lock him up long-term will almost certainly be $25MM+ per year.

Assuming they secure Bridges, the Hornets will have to determine how best to surround him and rising star Ball going forward. Gordon Hayward, Terry Rozier, P.J. Washington, Montrezl Harrell, Kelly Oubre, Mason Plumlee, Cody Martin, and Jalen McDaniels filled out the rotation in 2021/22, but there are questions surrounding many of those players.

Hayward has battled injury issues since arriving in Charlotte — will the Hornets be able to use his contract in a trade or will they have to count on him being healthier going forward? Washington is extension-eligible this offseason, but is he a long-term keeper or a potential trade chip in a deal for an impact player?

Will Harrell be re-signed or will he be a roster casualty as the Hornets look to upgrade their center spot? Will Oubre and Plumlee, who both have partial guarantees, be retained on their current deals? What will it cost to re-sign RFA-to-be Martin? And does it make sense to turn down McDaniels’ option and negotiate a new contract with him this summer instead of waiting for him to reach unrestricted free agency in 2023?

While one of Harrell or Plumlee could be back, I’d expect acquiring a starting center to be at or near the top of the Hornets’ offseason to-do list. The team’s poor defensive numbers can be attributed in part to lacking the sort of big man who can protect the rim and control the boards.

Myles Turner has long been on Charlotte’s radar, but may not be on the trade block anymore following the Pacers’ decision to move Domantas Sabonis. If the Hornets want to swing big, Rudy Gobert or Deandre Ayton could be options, either via trade or free agency. If they want to play it a little safer, targeting players like Richaun Holmes or Mitchell Robinson could make more sense.

The Hornets control two first-round picks next month, at No. 13 and No. 15, which should create additional options for them on the trade market. It’s possible Charlotte could simply use both picks, but after not getting much out of last year’s first-rounders, Bouknight and Jones, it seems unlikely that the team would want to bring in more rookies in 2022/23, especially with the pressure to make the playoffs increasing.

If the Hornets can’t make a deal on or before draft night that sends out one of those picks in a deal for veteran talent, don’t be surprised if they trade one of them for a future first-round selection, plus maybe a second-rounder or two. Those picks could subsequently be used as sweeteners in a trade for win-now help during free agency or even at next season’s deadline.

Salary Cap Situation

Note: Our salary cap figures are based on the league’s latest projection ($122MM) for 2022/23.

Guaranteed Salary

Gordon Hayward ($30,075,000)
Terry Rozier ($21,486,316)
Nicolas Batum ($8,856,969) — Waived via stretch provision.
LaMelo Ball ($8,623,920)
P.J. Washington ($5,808,435)
Kelly Oubre ($5,000,000) — Partial guarantee. Rest of salary is noted in non-guaranteed section below. ¹
James Bouknight ($4,362,240)
Mason Plumlee ($4,262,500) — Partial guarantee. Rest of salary is noted in non-guaranteed section below. ²
Kai Jones ($2,909,040)
JT Thor ($1,563,518)
Total: $92,947,938

Player Options

None

Team Options

Jalen McDaniels ($1,930,681): Bird rights ³
Total: $1,930,681

Non-Guaranteed Salary

Kelly Oubre ($7,600,000) ¹
Mason Plumlee ($4,817,917) ²
Nick Richards ($1,782,621) ⁴
Total: $14,200,538

Restricted Free Agents

Miles Bridges ($7,921,300 qualifying offer / $16,264,479 cap hold): Bird rights
Cody Martin ($2,228,276 qualifying offer / $2,228,276 cap hold): Bird rights
Total (cap holds): $18,492,755

Two-Way Free Agents

Arnoldas Kulboka ($1,616,044 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
Scottie Lewis ($1,616,044 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
Total: $3,232,088

Draft Picks

No. 13 overall pick ($4,069,080)
No. 15 overall pick ($3,672,120)
No. 45 overall pick (no cap hold)
Total: $7,741,200

Extension-Eligible Players

Note: These are players who are either already eligible for an extension or will become eligible before the 2022/23 season begins.

Gordon Hayward (veteran)
Jalen McDaniels (veteran) ⁵
Mason Plumlee (veteran)
Nick Richards (veteran)
P.J. Washington (rookie scale)

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Montrezl Harrell ($12,637,170 cap hold): Early Bird rights
Isaiah Thomas ($1,811,516 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
Total: $8,684,044

Offseason Cap Outlook

The Hornets could theoretically open up some cap room, but it would require, at the very least, letting Bridges walk. That seems unlikely.

If we assume Bridges will be back and Charlotte will have to account for some combination of Oubre, Plumlee, McDaniels, Martin, and its first-round picks, it’s more likely that team salary will approach luxury tax territory rather than being below the cap.

Cap Exceptions Available

Mid-level exception: $10,349,000 ⁶
Bi-annual exception: $4,050,000 ⁶

Footnotes

Oubre’s salary will become fully guaranteed after June 30.
Plumlee’s salary will become fully guaranteed after June 21.
McDaniels’ salary will remain non-guaranteed until August 1 even if his option is exercised.
Richards’ salary will become fully guaranteed after July 7.
McDaniels would only be eligible if his option is exercised.
These are projected values. If the Hornets decide to go under the cap and use cap room, they’ll forfeit these exceptions and instead gain access to the room exception ($5,329,000). If the Hornets approach or cross the tax line, they may not have access to the full mid-level exception and/or bi-annual exception and would instead be limited to the taxpayer mid-level exception ($6,392,000).

Salary and cap information from Basketball Insiders and RealGM was used in the creation of this post.

Trail Blazers Hiring Sergi Oliva As Assistant GM

May 30th, 2022 at 1:34pm CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers are making another addition to their front office, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that Sergi Oliva is coming aboard as an assistant general manager.

Oliva will be the third assistant GM hired by new permanent general manager Joe Cronin in 2022. Portland also brought in Andrae Patterson during the season and reached an agreement earlier this month with ESPN’s Mike Schmitz, who will officially join the team in July. The Blazers reportedly parted ways with assistant GM Bill Branch.

Oliva was part of the Sixers’ front office from 2014-20, beginning as a basketball operations analyst and eventually being promoted to vice president of strategy. He joined the Jazz in 2020 as an assistant coach on Quin Synder‘s staff and has spent the last two years in Utah.

Prior to arriving in the NBA, Oliva spent 12 years coaching at the youth and senior amateur levels in Catalonia and earned a PhD in Computational Complexity.

The Athletic listed Oliva in their “40 Under 40” feature in March, identifying him as one of the NBA’s young coaches/executives to watch.

Pelicans Ownership Reluctant To Offer Zion Fully Guaranteed Extension

May 30th, 2022 at 12:43pm CST by Luke Adams

During his end-of-season media session last month, Zion Williamson expressed enthusiasm about the possibility of signing a long-term contract extension with the Pelicans this offseason.

However, a fully guaranteed maximum-salary offer is unlikely to be on the table for Williamson, according to Brian Windhorst, who said on ESPN’s Get Up (video link) that team ownership is expected to seek protections in any extension agreement.

“From what I have been told, the Pelicans at this point are not willing to offer a full five-year guaranteed deal,” Windhorst said (hat tip to RealGM). “And a lot of it is flowing down from ownership. Gayle Benson, the owner, is also the owner of the New Orleans Saints and I have been told they are going to take a football-style, Saints-style mentality with this contract negotiation. They will offer him a huge contract, but will not guarantee all of it.

“If Zion accepts those terms and still protects himself and maybe gets $100-plus million guaranteed, he signs it and everything’s fine. If he doesn’t sign it and wants the full thing guaranteed, we could have some drama into the fall.”

A former No. 1 overall pick, Williamson missed the entire 2021/22 season while recovering from right foot surgery and has appeared in just 85 career games since entering the NBA in 2019. The 21-year-old has played at an All-Star level when healthy, averaging 25.7 PPG, 7.0 RPG, and 3.2 APG in 31.7 minutes per contest.

Williamson’s situation has frequently been likened to the one Joel Embiid was in following his third year with the Sixers, a comparison Windhorst invoked during his appearance on Get Up.

Following Embiid’s third season, injuries had limited him to just 31 career games, but Philadelphia was confident enough in his superstar potential to offer him a five-year, maximum-salary extension that included injury protection. The deal was worth $146.45MM, but would have been guaranteed for as little as $84.2MM if Embiid sustained a “contractually agreed upon injury” and the 76ers waived him. Embiid, of course, stayed healthy enough and played at such a high level that the Sixers never considered the possibility of letting him go.

The Pelicans could take a similar route with Williamson, offering him a maximum-salary contract that includes a substantial guarantee while also giving the team an out if he continues to be impacted by injuries. As Windhorst notes, it remains to be seen whether Zion would be willing to accept such an offer now that he no longer has any restrictions related to his foot surgery.

While Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin figures to take the lead on negotiations with Williamson, Windhorst stresses that the desire to reduce the team’s risk is being driven more by the club’s owners than by the front office.

“From what I understand, it’s not even about the Pelicans, it’s about ownership,” Windhorst said. “It’s about them saying, “Look, we have to make decisions on football players all the time that we’re worried about their injuries. We’ll guarantee them a certain amount of money and if they play, they can have all the money.’ And that’s what’s going to be presented.”

Draft Decisions: Ndefo, Cook, Hutcherson, J. Brown

May 30th, 2022 at 11:25am CST by Luke Adams

Senior forward KC Ndefo, one of the standout players on the St. Peter’s squad that made an unexpected Elite Eight run this spring, will be withdrawing from the 2022 NBA draft to use his last year of NCAA eligibility, a source tells Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link).

However, Ndefo won’t be returning to St. Peter’s, instead opting to transfer to Seton Hall for his final college season, says Rothstein. Ndefo isn’t a big-time scorer, averaging just 10.5 PPG last season, but he fills up the box score on defense — he has registered an impressive 2.9 blocks and 1.3 steals per game in his last three college seasons.

Here are a few more updates on the early entrants for the NBA draft:

Tulane sophomore guard Jalen Cook is withdrawing from the 2022 draft and returning to school for at least one more season, tweets Rothstein. Cook had a breakout year after transferring from LSU, putting up 18.0 PPG on .429/.391/.795 shooting in 24 games (33.8 MPG) for the Green Wave in 2021/22.
Despite appearing in just four games for Illinois due to health issues after transferring from Wesleyan, junior guard Austin Hutcherson has decided to remain in the draft pool and go pro, he tells Rothstein (Twitter link).
Louisiana junior forward Jordan Brown is expected to withdraw from the draft and spend at least one more season in college, a source tells Jeff Goodman of Stadium (Twitter link). Brown was the Ragin’ Cajuns’ leading scorer (15.3 PPG) and rebounder (8.6 RPG) last season.

Celtics’ Brown, Horford Benefit Financially From ECF Win

May 30th, 2022 at 9:51am CST by Luke Adams

A pair of Celtics players benefited financially in a major way as a result of the team’s Game 7 win over Miami on Sunday in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Swingman Jaylen Brown, who previously earned a bonus worth $321,429 for making the Eastern Finals, had that bonus voided and replaced by a bonus worth triple that amount, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, who tweets that Brown will receive $964,286 for making the NBA Finals.

Meanwhile, big man Al Horford didn’t receive a bonus on this year’s salary as a result of Boston’s Eastern Finals victory, but his salary guarantee for next season’s salary has increased. Horford is on the books for $26.5MM in the final year of his contract in 2022/23, but only $14.5MM had been guaranteed. That partial guarantee has increased to $19.5MM now that the Celtics are in the NBA Finals, tweets Marks.

If the Celtics defeat the Warriors and win the NBA Finals, Brown would receive another bonus and Horford’s ’22/23 salary would become fully guaranteed. In that scenario, the Celtics – who are currently $358K below the tax line – would go into the tax as a result of Brown’s final bonus, making them a taxpaying team, tweets Marks.

While the Celtics made an effort at the trade deadline to stay out of tax territory by sending Bol Bol and PJ Dozier to Orlando in a salary-dump deal, it’s safe to assume team ownership would be comfortable paying a very modest tax bill in exchange for a title. The Bucks were in a similar situation a year ago, when Jrue Holiday‘s championship bonus pushed their team salary over the tax line.

Stein’s Latest: Pinson, Boban, Hornets, Connelly, Handy

May 30th, 2022 at 8:41am CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks are “determined” to find space on their roster for Theo Pinson next season, Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack article. Pinson appeared in just 19 regular season games in 2021/22 and wasn’t eligible to play in the postseason, but the Mavs view the 26-year-old wing as an important part of the team dynamic in Dallas, Stein explains, noting that center Boban Marjanovic falls into this category too.

Marjanovic has a $3.5MM contract for next season, so the Mavericks will have no problem keeping him around if they want to, but Pinson’s two-way deal is set to expire, making him an unrestricted free agent. Since he’ll have four years of NBA service under his belt, Pinson will no longer be eligible to sign a two-way contract in 2022/23 — he’d have to get a standard contract and be part of the 15-man roster if the Mavs want to retain him.

Pinson was viewed as the unofficial ring leader of the Mavs’ bench mob that earned the team $175K in fines during the playoffs due to its “bench decorum” violations.

Here’s more from Stein:

With Darvin Ham off the board, it’s unclear which head coaching candidate is the frontrunner for the Hornets‘ job. However, Stein says there was some “fresh buzz” over the weekend that if Mike D’Antoni is hired by Charlotte, he could bring former Bulls head coach Jim Boylen along with him as an assistant. Stein reported a couple weeks ago that D’Antoni was in a strong position to land the job, but later cast some doubt on that report.
Sources with knowledge of the situation tell Stein that the “equity” aspect of Tim Connelly‘s deal with the Timberwolves has been overstated. Stein’s understanding is that Connelly’s contract includes a bonus based on the value of the franchise increasing during his five-year contract, but he doesn’t actually own a stake in the team.
It remains to be seen whether veteran assistant Phil Handy will return to the Lakers under Ham, according to Stein, who believes the Nets could be a fit for Handy if he doesn’t stay in L.A. Handy worked well with Kyrie Irving during their Cleveland days, and the Nets have a need on the player development side following Adam Harrington‘s exit, Stein observes.

Jayson Tatum Wins Larry Bird Trophy As Eastern Finals MVP

May 30th, 2022 at 7:17am CST by Luke Adams

Following the Celtics‘ dramatic victory over the Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday, Jayson Tatum was named the Most Valuable Player of the series, making him the first-ever winner of the Larry Bird Trophy, according to the league (Twitter press release).

The NBA introduced the award earlier this month in an effort to honor the players who played crucial roles in leading their teams to the Finals. Last week, Warriors star Stephen Curry became the first player to win the Magic Johnson Trophy award as the MVP of the Western Conference Finals.

Tatum averaged 25.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game over the course of the seven-game series vs. Miami, playing big minutes (40.8 MPG) and putting up a shooting line of .462/.353/.860. He only had one poor performance in the series, when he scored just 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting and turned the ball over six times in Game 3. He scored at least 22 points in the other six games.

The award was voted on by nine local and national media members who were covering the series. Tatum earned eight of nine votes, with Heat star Jimmy Butler receiving the only other vote, from ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.

Butler averaged 25.6 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 3.4 APG, and 2.0 SPG, and looked like the best player on the court in several games of the series — he was limited by a knee injury and scored just 27 total points from Games 3 to 5, but averaged 38.0 PPG in Games 1, 2, 6, and 7. He likely would’ve been the unanimous MVP pick if Miami had won the series.

Tatum will look to carry over his Eastern Finals success into the NBA Finals vs. the Warriors. The series will tip off in Golden State on Thursday — the full schedule can be found right here.

Western Notes: Warriors, Finals, Wood, Grizzlies, Lakers

May 29th, 2022 at 9:19pm CST by JD Shaw

The Warriors are thankful to have plenty of rest ahead of the NBA Finals, Kendra Andrews of ESPN.com writes. By defeating Dallas in five games, the Warriors put themselves at a competitive advantage over the Celtics and Heat — who needed a Game 7 to decide their series on Sunday night.

“We gave our guys two straight days off, which is almost unheard of, in playoffs or even just regular season,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “So it was a great chance to decompress the last couple of days.

“We won’t have a formal practice until tomorrow. It’ll be the first day we’ll build on our opponent. So I’ve said it many times: You go to the Finals, it’s almost a two-month journey filled with stress and fatigue, so if you can build a little break, it’s very meaningful.”

Golden State is dealing with injuries to Gary Payton II, Andre Iguodala and Otto Porter Jr., but Payton and Iguodala will likely return in the Finals and Porter’s injury isn’t considered serious.

On the flip side, Miami is dealing with injuries to Kyle Lowry, Max Strus, Jimmy Butler, P.J. Tucker, Tyler Herro and Gabe Vincent, while a pair of Boston starters – Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III – have missed time in the Finals due to various ailments.

There’s more from the West this evening:

The Rockets are continuing to receive trade interest for big man Christian Wood, Kelly Iko reports for The Athletic. Wood, 26, complements the Rockets well offensively, but the team may consider moving his contract and focusing on its younger core. He averaged 17.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game this season.
Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal examines 14 players to watch for the Grizzlies’ three draft picks next month. Memphis owns the 22nd, 29th and 47th selections in the event, which takes place on June 23.
New Lakers coach Darvin Ham is expected to have control over choosing his coaching staff, Marc Stein confirms in his latest article at Substack. Stein also reports that senior advisor Kurt Rambis will not be a regular presence in coaching meetings as he was under Frank Vogel‘s leadership.

And-Ones: Seattle, Las Vegas, Expansion, Baker, Tatum

May 29th, 2022 at 7:42pm CST by JD Shaw

The NBA may have earmarked Seattle and Las Vegas as potential expansion locations. According to John Canzano of 750 The Game, the league is eyeing both cities if it adds expansion teams, though no further details have been made available. Canzano made his comments on Seattle radio station 93.3 KJR (Twitter link).

It’s worth noting that a similar report was shot down by the league in March, as Chris Daniels of King5.com wrote at the time. However, several players and league officials hold Seattle in high regard, and Las Vegas is currently used by the NBA for its annual summer league, which will be held July 7-17 this year.

Here are some other odds and ends from the basketball universe:

The Thunder have received a summer league commitment from Robert Baker, his agent Jerry Dianis told Hoops Rumors. Baker, a 6’10” forward, played with the Kings’ G League affiliate this year. The 23-year-old also played collegiately at Harvard from 2017-20.
Celtics star Jayson Tatum would like to see some changes to the All-NBA Team voting, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. Tatum received All-NBA First Team honors, but he was left off last year’s three teams — costing him tens of millions on his current deal, as Bontemps notes. Among Tatum’s adjustments would be making the teams positionless. He used Joel Embiid as an example, since Embiid finished second in Most Valuable Player voting this season, but was relegated to the All-NBA Second Team because the MVP winner, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, made the First Team. Tatum also voiced his concerns about the process back in February.

Tyler Herro To Return In Game 7

May 29th, 2022 at 5:55pm CST by JD Shaw

Heat guard Tyler Herro (groin strain) will warm up with the intent of playing in Sunday’s Game 7 against the Celtics, the team announced on social media (Twitter link). The other players on the official injury report — Kyle Lowry, Max Strus, P.J. Tucker and Gabe Vincent — will do the same.

Herro suffered the injury during the second half of Game 3. He missed Games 4, 5 and 6 as a result, with Miami going 1-2 during those outings. The Heat have missed his scoring presence, as the 22-year-old averaged 20.7 points per game on 45% shooting this season.

Herro’s production has dropped during the playoffs. In 14 games, he’s averaged 13.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 26.7 minutes per contest, shooting 41% from the floor and just 23% from distance.

Herro won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award this season. He made significant progress in his recovery, one that could’ve lasted two-to-four weeks during the regular season, as ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne previously reported (video link).

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