Eastern Notes: Hornets, Bulls, Knicks, Nets

The Hornets have six players on the roster who will make $12MM or more next year and that leaves the team without much flexibility heading into the offseason, as Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer writes. The franchise has roughly $102MM on the books for the 2017/18 campaign, as we outlined on the team’s Salary Digest page.

Bonnell believes GM Rich Cho needs to find a way to improve the team’s depth. The 2015/16 squad was able to make the playoffs because of a deep rotation, but after losing several contributors to free agency, Charlotte fell in the standings.

Cho will have the No.11 and No. 41 overall picks in this year’s draft as well as two exceptions (the highest mid-level exception—approximately $8.4MM —and the bi-annual exception, which is projected to be around $3.3MM) to work with as he looks to add talent.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

• Donovan Mitchell recently met with the Bulls and Vincent Goodwill of Comcast Sportsnet (Twitter link) hears that the team was impressed with the guard’s workout. Goodwill notes that there is a good chance that Mitchell is off the board by the time Chicago picks at No. 16.
• Steve Vasturia worked out for the Knicks, Dennis Chambers of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). The 22-year-old shooting guard has plans to work out for the Nets as well.
• Isaac Hamilton will work out for the Knicks, Ian Begley of ESPN.com relays (ESPN Now link). Begley notes that the UCLA product fits the mold that team President Phil Jackson is looking for and the shooting guard could be an option for the team in the second round. New York owns the No. 44 and No. 58 overall selections in addition to the No.8.