Charlotte Hornets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Hornets Re-Sign Joe Chealey

August 6th, 2019 at 1:21pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 6: The Hornets’ new deal with Chealey is now official, the team announced today in a press release. It’s an Exhibit 10 contract, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).

AUGUST 1: After spending the entire 2018/19 season on a two-way contract with the Hornets, former Charleston guard Joe Chealey is expected to rejoin the team as a free agent.

Edge Sports, Chealey’s agency, published a tweet this week congratulating him on his new deal with the Hornets. However, the announcement doesn’t specify what kind of contract he’ll sign, and the team has yet to issue an official update. An Exhibit 10 pact is probably the most likely outcome, but Charlotte does still have a two-way slot open too.

Chealey, 23, signed with the Hornets as an undrafted free agent in July 2018 and had his contract converted to a two-way deal in October. He only appeared in one game with the NBA club in his rookie season, but was a regular starter for the Greensboro Swarm, Charlotte’s G League affiliate.

In 43 NBAGL games (31.3 MPG), the young point guard averaged 16.3 PPG, 5.3 APG, and 3.7 RPG with a .436/.340/.773 shooting line. His season ended in March when he suffered a torn left meniscus.

Chealey and fellow two-way player J.P. Macura became unrestricted free agents this summer, with the Hornets signing Robert Franks to fill one of the newly-opened two-way contract slots. Second-round pick Jalen McDaniels looks like the best candidate for the second slot, but the team has yet to tip its hand.

NBA Teams With Hard Caps For 2019/20

August 6th, 2019 at 11:16am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA salary cap is somewhat malleable, with various exceptions allowing every team to surpass the $109,140,000 threshold once their room is used up. In some cases, teams blow past not only the cap limit, but the luxury-tax limit of $132,627,000 as well — the Trail Blazers have this season’s highest payroll at the moment, more than $11MM above the tax line.

The NBA doesn’t have a “hard cap” by default, which allows a club like Portland to build a significant payroll without violating CBA rules. However, there are certain scenarios in which teams can be hard-capped.

When a club uses the bi-annual exception, acquires a player via sign-and-trade, or uses more than the taxpayer portion ($5,718,000) of the mid-level exception, that club will face a hard cap for the remainder of the league year.

When a team becomes hard-capped, it cannot exceed the “tax apron” at any point during the rest of the league year. The tax apron was set $6MM above the luxury tax line in 2017/18 (the first year of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement) and creeps up a little higher each season. For the 2019/20 league year, the tax apron – and hard cap for certain clubs – is set at $138,928,000.

More teams than ever this offseason have been willing to hard-cap themselves, and in at least a couple cases, it will significantly impact a team’s ability to add further reinforcements later in the league year. The Warriors and Heat are nearly right up against the hard cap, and won’t be players in free agency during the season unless they can shed salary.

So far this year, half the teams in the NBA have imposed a hard cap on themselves by using the bi-annual exception, using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, or acquiring a player via sign-and-trade. Listed below are those 15 teams, along with how they created a hard cap.

Boston Celtics

Acquired Kemba Walker from the Hornets via sign-and-trade.

Brooklyn Nets

Acquired Kevin Durant from the Warriors via sign-and-trade.

Charlotte Hornets

Acquired Terry Rozier from the Celtics via sign-and-trade.

Chicago Bulls

Acquired Tomas Satoransky from the Wizards via sign-and-trade.

Dallas Mavericks

Acquired Delon Wright from the Grizzlies via sign-and-trade.
Used approximately $7.46MM of their mid-level exception to sign Seth Curry.
Used their bi-annual exception to sign Boban Marjanovic.

Detroit Pistons

Used approximately $7.32MM of their mid-level exception to sign Derrick Rose.
Used their bi-annual exception to sign Markieff Morris.

Golden State Warriors

Acquired D’Angelo Russell from the Nets via sign-and-trade.

Indiana Pacers

Acquired Malcolm Brogdon from the Bucks via sign-and-trade.

Memphis Grizzlies

Used their full mid-level exception ($9,258,000) to sign Tyus Jones.
Used their bi-annual exception to sign Marko Guduric.

Miami Heat

Acquired Jimmy Butler from the Sixers via sign-and-trade.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Acquired Jake Layman from the Trail Blazers via sign-and-trade.

Orlando Magic

Used their full mid-level exception ($9,258,000) to sign Al-Farouq Aminu.

San Antonio Spurs

Acquired DeMarre Carroll from the Nets via sign-and-trade.

Toronto Raptors

Used approximately $8.3MM of their mid-level exception to sign Patrick McCaw, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Matt Thomas, and Dewan Hernandez.
Used their bi-annual exception to sign Stanley Johnson.

Washington Wizards

Used approximately $7.9MM of their mid-level exception to sign Ish Smith, Admiral Schofield, and Justin Robinson.

Outside of the Warriors and Heat, no clubs on the list above are really being restricted by the hard cap at this time. A few teams – such as the Pistons and Magic – are near the luxury tax threshold, but that still gives them several million dollars in breathing room below the hard cap.

While it’s possible that trades could push some teams closer to the apron, Golden State and Miami appear to be the only clubs that will be noticeably affected by the hard cap in 2019/20.

Examining Contract Details For Cody, Caleb Martin

August 4th, 2019 at 7:08pm CST by JD Shaw

Bobby Marks of ESPN (via Twitter) provides cap details on the contracts inked by Cody Martin and Caleb Martin, who both signed with the Hornets. Cody’s contract ($1.17MM in the first season) is guaranteed in the second season and non-guaranteed in the third, while Caleb signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the team.

Derrick Jones’ 2019/20 Salary Becomes Guaranteed

August 1st, 2019 at 7:38pm CST by Luke Adams

Derrick Jones‘ $1,645,357 salary for the 2019/20 season has become fully guaranteed as a result of the Heat standing pat today. The small forward had an August 1 guarantee deadline on his deal, which meant that if he remained under contract through today’s waiver deadline (5:00pm ET) and didn’t agree to push that date back, he’d be assured of receiving his full salary for the coming season.

Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel wrote earlier today that a source close to the situation stressed there were “no plans” to make any roster moves that would allow the Heat to avoid Jones’ guarantee.

Jones had a promising season for the Heat in 2018/19, averaging 7.0 PPG and 4.0 RPG in 60 games (19.2 MPG). On the opening night of free agency a month ago, it appeared that the 22-year-old might be Dallas-bound as part of the multi-team trade that would ultimately land Jimmy Butler in Miami. However, that deal fell through, with reports indicating that the Heat didn’t want to part with Jones. Now, it looks like a near-lock that he’ll be part of the team’s regular season roster in 2019/20.

August 1 also represented a guarantee deadline for a handful of other players around the NBA. It’s possible that one or more of these players agreed to push his deadline back at the request of his team, but nothing along those lines has been reported.

Unless we hear otherwise, we’re assuming the following players received full or partial guarantees by remaining under contract through today’s waiver deadline:

Dwayne Bacon (Hornets): $1,618,520 salary becomes fully guaranteed (Twitter link via ESPN’s Bobby Marks).
Deonte Burton (Thunder): $1,416,852 salary becomes fully guaranteed (Twitter link via Marks)
Kendrick Nunn (Heat): $50,000 partial guarantee increases to $150,000 (link via Winderman). Nunn is no longer eligible to sign a two-way contract with Miami. His full salary is $1,416,852.

Hornets Sign Cody Martin, Caleb Martin

July 31st, 2019 at 10:28am CST by Luke Adams

10:28am: The Hornets have made it official, announcing in a press release that they’ve signed both Martin brothers.

9:33am: The Hornets will become the latest NBA team to carry a pair of brothers on the same roster. In this case, it’ll be the Martin twins – Cody Martin and Caleb Martin – who sign with Charlotte, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Cody, who was the 36th overall pick in the 2019 draft, will sign a three-year contract with the Hornets, according to Charania. That deal figures to come out of the team’s mid-level exception, since Charlotte would otherwise be limited to two years. As for Caleb, he’ll get a partially guaranteed deal, Charania adds. If that guarantee doesn’t exceed $50K, he could emerge as a candidate to fill the club’s open two-way slot.

The Martins, who are each 6’7″ forwards, spent their college careers playing together as well, first at North Carolina State and later at Nevada. In 2018/19, Cody averaged 12.1 PPG, 4.9 APG, and 4.5 RPG with a .505/.358/.763 shooting line, while Caleb recorded 19.2 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 2.8 APG on .409/.338/.732 shooting.

After the Hornets selected Cody early in the second round last month, Caleb joined the team’s Summer League roster, though he was unable to play due to a knee injury. Charlotte wanted to keep an eye on Caleb during the summer, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link), who says he heard in Las Vegas that it was a given that Caleb would be in camp with the Hornets this fall, assuming he was healthy.

The Martins will become the second pair of twins to play on the same roster this fall, joining Brook Lopez and Robin Lopez of the Bucks. Milwaukee also employs another set of brothers – Giannis Antetokounmpo and Thanasis Antetokounmpo – while the Pacers will have both Aaron Holiday and Justin Holiday under contract.

Kulboka To Remain In Europe Next Season

July 26th, 2019 at 8:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Hornets draft-and-stash prospect Arnoldas Kulboka will remain overseas and play in Spain during the upcoming season, Lithuanian journalist Donatas Urbonas tweets. The 6’9” Kulboka, 21, was a late second-round pick last year.

Eastern Notes: Wizards, Dragic, Davis

July 25th, 2019 at 10:09pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Sashi Brown, who previously led the NFL’s Cleveland Browns but will now work within the Wizards‘ new-look front office, admits that it will take some time to transition to the NBA, though he sees opportunity to add value, as Chase Hughes of NBC Sports passes along.

“I think that if you’re relying on winning to develop your culture you probably don’t have a very good culture,” Brown said. “It really has to be the driver for winning. That’s what we’re going to do. We’ve got guys that are experienced and passionate that will hold the entire organization accountable.”

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Goran Dragic was nearly traded this offseason and that might suggest that his days on the Heat are numbered but Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel sees it differently. The scribe envisions Dragic playing better in 2019/20 and suggests that the best move for both parties would be to sign a one-year deal at the end of the season, as the Heat are financially gearing up for the summer of 2021 in order to chase star free agents.
The Hornets may have to choose between Malik Monk and Nicolas Batum as they decide who will be in their starting lineup, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer writes. The decision could come down to whether the team is planning on competing this season or investing in their young prospects.
Anthony Davis, who is from Chicago, called the city the “Mecca of basketball,” as The Chicago Tribune passes along. Davis added that he’d consider joining the Bulls at some point in the future if it made sense to do so.

Shelvin Mack Signs With Olimpia Milano

July 25th, 2019 at 9:59am CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 25: Mack has officially signed a two-year contract with Olimpia Milano, the team announced today in a press release.

Emiliano Carchia of Sportando first reported earlier today that Mack had reached an agreement in principle to join the Italian club. Carchia also noted that James was expected to be bought out.

JULY 24: Shelvin Mack, who played for both the Grizzlies and Hornets last season, is drawing interest from Olimpia Milano, according to Alessandro Maggi of Sportando. Mack could replace former NBA point guard Mike James, even though James is still under contract with the Italian team.

Mack signed with Memphis last summer and appeared in 53 games, averaging 7.9 points per night, before being traded to the Hawks in February. Atlanta waived him immediately and he was claimed by Charlotte, but saw limited playing time in just four games.

The 29-year-old also spent time with the Wizards, Sixers, Jazz and Magic in an eight-year NBA career.

NBA Conducting Investigation Of Tampering

July 23rd, 2019 at 12:36pm CST by Arthur Hill

In response to tampering complaints, the NBA is investigating some of the earliest agreements reached in free agency, according to Zach Lowe and Brian Windhorst of ESPN. The process will include interviews with players and possibly agents and team employees as well.

Suspicions were raised as some free agent deals were announced immediately upon the arrival of the negotiating period, which began at 6:00pm Eastern Time on June 30. A few agreements were leaked ahead of that hour, prompting questions about the legality of the process.

The announcement of the investigation came after a “tense” owners meeting in Las Vegas in which everyone present was encouraged to express their grievances. Hornets owner Michael Jordan, who lost Kemba Walker to a quickly-announced deal with the Celtics, suggested the need to alter the way free agency is conducted in the next collective bargaining agreement. Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry, who could have the top free agent in 2021 when Giannis Antetokounmpo hits the market, discussed “gray areas” of the current rules against tampering.

NBA general counsel Rick Buchanan reminded teams that they are all expected to abide by the rules and promised a revised set of regulations that will be strictly enforced. He mentioned “seizing servers and cellphones” to track any illegal contact that teams might make.

Other possible solutions being considered by the league include:

Allowing teams to negotiate with their own free agents after the Finals have concluded. Some executives and agents admit that the free agent process now unofficially begins at the draft combine in May when meetings over potential picks expand into talk about free agent clients.
Holding free agency before the draft. The Rockets submitted a formal proposal to enact this change last year, but only got support from 10 teams, sources tell Lowe and Windhorst.
Cutting back the moratorium, which extended this year from June 30 to July 6. It exists to give the league time to account for all its revenue from the previous season and set an accurate salary cap.
Granting teams more time and more freedom to talk with free agents before they officially reach the market.

Several teams also complained about the new trend toward family members serving as virtual agents and making requests not covered by the CBA. Some used Kawhi Leonard‘s uncle, Dennis Robertson, as an example, but the authors point out that there have been many other similar cases. Commissioner Adam Silver admitted that “things are being discussed that don’t fall squarely within the collective bargaining agreement.” There was sentiment at the meeting to require family members who assume that role to go through the union’s agent certification process.

Marvin Williams A Prime Trade Candidate

July 9th, 2019 at 11:14pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer believes Marvin Williams is the veteran on the Hornets‘ roster most likely to be traded. Williams is making $15MM next season and Bonnell thinks the power forward’s game would mesh well with nearly every roster in the league.