Nicolas Batum found out the Hornets had released him in November on social media, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. “I found out on Twitter, like everybody else,” Batum said. The veteran forward was let go to clear cap space for Gordon Hayward. Charlotte elected to use the stretch provision, spreading Batum’s $27.1MM cap hit over three seasons. The Hornets declined to comment on how they handled Batum’s departure.
We have more on the Hornets:
- LaMelo Ball played 57 percent of the season before he injured his wrist, so he’s still likely to win the Rookie of the Year award, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic writes. Only strong finishes by either Anthony Edwards or Tyrese Haliburton would jeopardize his hold on the award.
- The Hornets have a tricky decision on Devonte’ Graham in the aftermath of Ball’s injury, but they would still be wise to deal the restricted free agent, Vecenie opines in the same piece. Graham will never have more value than he has now, due to his $1.6MM salary, which makes him an option for any team interested in him. He could be an impact player for a contender, which would gain control over him this summer due to his RFA status.
- Charlotte has long been interested in the Pacers’ Myles Turner and Indiana asked for P.J. Washington as part of a potential package prior to the season, J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star tweets.
- With an open roster spot and up to $4.1MM in cap space, GM Mitch Kupchak needs to add a big man to the roster, Bonnell tweets. Charlotte has left a roster spot open throughout the season.
Again…Charlotte doesnt need a big. They need shooting at the 2/3 spots off the bench
They shouldn’t have waived Batum honestly, they could have traded Zeller to Boston to facilitate the Gordon deal. Wasting 9M for 3 years is just dumb.
I totally agree on this. Now they have to throw away 9mil a year for 3 years.
Feel your pain…Bucks been throwing away money to John Leuer and Larry Sanders which could have been spent on another quality player. Poor management has consequences.
In hindsight it kinda sucks b/c indeed they could have kept him and still gotten Hayward by just doing some small landscaping around the fringes. Even at the time it felt wrong and for all the wrong reasons
But they did have a fun run this year and gained positive attention . Just a player or 2 away from being big players in the East and there cap still looks great even w Batum on it for 22 & 23
LaMelo is the ROY!!!
Really don’t matter what the other rookies do, they can’t touch him for the rest of the season!
I don’t get the love affair with Ball. Edwards is averaging more points if he finish close to 20 points a game he should win. Did I miss something on Ball he had a few good games but mostly average to below average in most games.
You must’ve been sleeping… Ball has been more well rounded, efficient and a big reason to the Hornets success this season.
Rookie Stat Rankings between Ball and Edwards:
PPG
1st Edwards 16.7 (38% FG) (31.9% 3PT)
2nd Ball 15.9 (45% FG) (37.5% 3PT)
RPG
2nd Ball 5.9
10th Edwards 4.3
APG
1st Ball 6.1
8th Edwards 2.5
And if you want to compare their last 10 games:
Ball 19.4 PPG 5.3 RPG 6.1 APG on 48.9% FG and 45.3% 3PT
Edwards 24.9 PPG 6.2 RPG 2.7 APG on 41.4% FG and 32.6% 3PT
More than a few good games for Ball, and he impacted the whole team and improved CHA. MIN is in last place and Edwards plays brilliantly now but unconnected.
Bas.Ref.has a “game score” combined stat they use for their logged individual games. Ball leads 7-4 in “gmsc”s above 20 and 2-0 in scores rounded to 30+. 13.4 to 9.6 average.
Double-doubles go 8-1 Ball.
In time, Edwards should get as many points as anyone, but for the ’21 ROY it will come to slow start vs slow finish!
Don -Keep it simple, Give the award to someone that plays 65+ games
Arc- Yes
Might see a Graham/Zeller for Myles Turner yet! P.J. Washington, yeah right. What a dumb ask if you’re serious. Pacers been trading Turner for 3 seasons now, his value is straight up, dollar for dollar. Graham is a no brainer for Indy, get it done!
I was hoping Quickly was able to get ROY with Ball out.
Washington is only 2-3 years younger than Turner. Turner ranks better in everything except 3pt%, and even that goes to Turner because he can draw a center out.
Of course it’s not clear Turner can handle center and PJW is slow to get going. PJW should get more blocks though, to predict he would get better than Turner.
I wonder if he secretly battled Miles Bridges last year for who had to be the 4? And it can’t help playing the 5 this year at 6-8.
My point was not about comparing numbers or playing the same position. Turner is a C, Washington is a PF. End of story. Hornets would be fools to include P.J. Washington, a 2nd year pro for a guy the Pacers have been trading even before they signed him to his last contract! Pacers have Bitadze they could give a rip about getting Washington back in a deal if Graham is coming back. Gladly take him though, if Charlotte was dumb enough to offer
Jae’Sean Tate obviously isn’t winning ROY, but he has a good chance of making the All-Rookie team. He’s 8th among rookies in scoring (10.4 PPG), 8th in FG% (52.4%), 6th in MPG (28.3), 4th in rebounding (5.3 RPG), and 3rd in steals (1.2 SPG).
He’s actually a nice pickup. Didn’t really know much about him. Got good size and plays both ways.
There are 30 gms left in the season. Ball may be leading right now for the year. But the AntMan has been much better last couple of wks. So it’s insane to think this race is over. If Wiseman played 30 mins he could be win it. Ball has had a good yr, not a great yr. Hayward is reason for Hornets better play. Hornets are .500 and not guaranteed of playoffs. The hype for Ball is just not true. Substance is a full season. Let’s face it it’s Edwards, Halliburton, Wiseman, Bey to lose. All have a good shot. Ball just needs to get healthy