The Hornets lobbied to be included in the NBA’s restart this summer and are “very disappointed” not to be part of it, president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak said on Tuesday, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. However, Kupchak and head coach James Borrego accepted the league’s decision and will be satisfied with an opportunity to conduct team activities this summer.
As Bonnell details, Borrego thinks it would make sense for the bottom eight teams not invited to Orlando to be permitted to practice while the other 22 clubs are playing at Disney in August.
“The amount of time they’re spending with their teams and their players as a unit, we believe we should have the same. That would level the playing field a little bit more,” Borrego said. “For me, it’s more about the time that we have (to work with players and to scrimmage) — that it syncs with what (other teams are) getting in Orlando — and also the live play, which we don’t get a lot in the summer.”
Here’s more on the Hornets:
- Also within that Bonnell article linked above: Borrego said he thought P.J. Washington should be on this season’s All-Rookie First Team, and Kupchak said that the Hornets are still in talent-acquisition mode rather than focusing on fit. “At some point, we’ll hopefully be that advanced, to sit down and talk about, ‘Hey, we’ve got five or six guys with great talent, now how do they fit together?'” Kupchak said, according to Bonnell. “I don’t think we’re there right now.”
- In a separate article for The Observer, Bonnell digs into whether the Hornets have any realistic paths to acquiring a star player.
- Now that Malik Monk has been reinstated following his drug suspension, he’s set to enter a big year in 2020/21. As Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer writes, the Hornets may have to move on from Monk next year if he doesn’t take a noticeable step forward after three up-and-down seasons.
- Willy Hernangomez will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, but he said today that he plans to remain in Charlotte for most or all of the summer, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Hernangomez added that he’d “love” to re-sign with the Hornets if possible. “I love Charlotte, I love the group of guys we have,” he said, per Bonnell (Twitter links). “I want to be part of the young core that we have.”
Washington is 6’7，
9 feet stand reach
I like good players with bad stats such as J Issac and Washington
The question is
is the Warriors pick worth one of them?
Warriors have first overall pick odds at the moment. These two both weren’t first overall picks and haven’t improved that much so Warriors pick is definitely better
How can you say Washington hasn’t improved? He has only been in the league one year and he was one of the top 5 rookies in the league after being drafted #12. That sounds like an improvement to me.
Plus, the first overall pick in a weak draft is not definitely better than a late lottery pick in a strong draft. In fact, I would argue it is much worse. The skills will be similar, but the salary will be much higher. A player like Anthony Edwards or James Wiseman would be a nice gamble at the salary of the #10 pick in a stronger year, but they are far more risky at the #1 pick salary this year.
How is it up to the Warriors? Neither is what they’re likely to be looking for, given the certain high acquisition cost.
I may be in the minority, but I wouldn’t swap Washington for the 1st overall pick this season. There’s just not a player to be had that I think will be better than Washington.
I like what Mitch is saying. They just need to continue to accumulate young, talented players for 2 or 3 seasons, then assess where they are. You can start dealing then, if you need.