- Hornets coach James Borrego is taking a different approach entering his second season with the team, asserting his authority more while ensuring that he remains a good listener and keeps a positive attitude, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer writes. “I feel like J.B. probably too much, to an extent, last (season) tried to keep everybody happy,” Marvin Williams said of Borrego. “I think this (season), he’s much more comfortable with people. He understands who we are as people and players. He’s just in a better place because of that.”
3:12pm: As noted as a possibility below, the Hornets have converted Simmons’ contract to a two-way deal, per an official release from the team.
3:10pm: Per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Hornets rookie forward Jalen McDaniels, who just last night had his non-guaranteed one-year deal converted to a two-way contract, has now agreed to sign a partially guaranteed multi-year deal with the Hornets to finalize Charlotte’s 15-man roster.
Per Charania’s report, it appears that the Hornets will either waive Kobi Simmons or convert his deal to a two-way contract, but there has yet to be a report on that front. If Simmons is converted to a two-way deal, he’ll join Robert Franks as the team’s two two-way players to begin the 2019/20 season.
As for McDaniels, he goes from the last unsigned 2019 NBA Draft pick signed to a partially guaranteed contract holder in the span of 10 days. The 6’10” forward averaged 15.9 PPG, 8.3 RPG, and 2.1 APG in 34 games (31.0 MPG) for San Diego State last season.
The Hornets continue to tweak their roster in advance of the regular season deadline, announcing tonight in a press release that Jalen McDaniels has had his contract converted into a two-way deal.
Earlier on Saturday, Charlotte waived two-way player Ahmed Hill. Caleb Martin briefly replaced Hill in that two-way slot, but later returned to the regular roster by agreeing to a three-year contract. McDaniels and Robert Franks are now the Hornets’ two-way players.
The No. 52 overall pick in the 2019 draft, McDaniels was the last of this year’s draft picks to sign a contract, agreeing to a one-year, non-guaranteed pact with the club. Having that deal turned into a two-way contract will give the former San Diego State forward a chance to stick with the franchise through his rookie season — he’ll be eligible to spend up to 45 days with the Hornets, spending the rest of his time with the Greensboro Swarm, Charlotte’s G League affiliate.
McDaniels averaged 15.9 PPG, 8.3 RPG, and 2.1 APG in 34 games (31.0 MPG) in 2018/19. The Hornets faced some criticism in some circles for drafting the 6’10” forward, who has been sued by two former female high school classmates who claim that he recorded them without their consent while they were performing sexual acts.
Caleb Martin, whose Exhibit 10 contract was converted into a two-way deal with the Hornets earlier today, has agreed on a three-year pact with the team, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The new arrangement will include a partial guarantee.
We told you earlier today that Charlotte is considering two-way deals with Kobi Simmons and Jalen McDaniels, so Martin may eventually be moved onto the regular roster. Robert Franks currently occupies the other two-way slot, while Simmons and McDaniels are still with the team on non-guaranteed deals.
Martin, a 24-year-old shooting guard, signed with the Hornets in July after going undrafted out of Nevada. He played there with his twin brother Cody Martin, who also won a roster spot after being selected by Charlotte with the 36th pick in this year’s draft.
After waiving two-way player Ahmed Hill earlier today, the Hornets have filled that newly-opened two-way slot by converting rookie forward Caleb Martin‘s Exhibit 10 deal into a two-way pact, the team announced in a press release.
It appears that Martin, whose twin brother Cody Martin was selected by the Hornets in the second round of this year’s draft, will remain on the same roster as Cody after playing with him at Nevada as well.
Caleb averaged 19.2 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 2.8 APG in 34 games as a senior for the Wolf Pack. In five preseason games with the Hornets, he recorded 9.6 PPG, 3.2 RPG, and 1.2 APG in 20.6 minutes per game.
While Martin and Robert Franks are occupying the Hornets’ two-way slots for the time being, that could change. Rod Boone of The Athletic tweeted earlier today that Kobi Simmons and Jalen McDaniels, who are currently on non-guaranteed contracts, are candidates to get two-way deals in Charlotte. Boone also hears that converting Martin to a two-way deal may be a procedural move to get him back on the regular roster on a new standard contract (Twitter link).
For now, the Hornets have 17 players under contract — 13 on guaranteed salaries, Simmons and McDaniels on non-guaranteed deals, and Martin and Franks on two-way pacts.
The Hornets have waived guard Ahmed Hill, according to a team press release.
Hill was signed to a two-way contract in early September, so this move opens up one of those slots.
The former Virginia Tech guard appeared in four preseason games, averaging 1.8 PPG in 5.7 MPG. After going undrafted, the 6’5” Hill joined the Nets’ Summer League roster and appeared in six games in Las Vegas, averaging 6.8 PPG on 44.8% shooting in 18.2 MPG.
He averaged 11.0 PPG, 3.4 RPG and 1.2 APG over 134 appearances in his four-year college career.
After waiving Hill, the Hornets’ roster stands at 17 players.
- Marks believes Hornets second-round pick Jalen McDaniels is a good candidate to be converted into a two-way contract or to agree to a longer-term deal than the one-year pact he signed last week.
[SOURCE LINK]
The 2019/20 NBA regular season will get underway in just six days, which means it’s time to get serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign.
With the help of the lines from a handful of sports betting sites, including Bovada and BetOnline, we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.
Having already looked at the Atlantic, Northwest, Central, and Pacific, we’re moving onto the Southeast today…
Miami Heat
- 2018/19 record: 39-43
- Over/under for 2019/20: 43.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Jimmy Butler, Meyers Leonard, Tyler Herro, KZ Okpala
- Lost: Josh Richardson, Dwyane Wade, Hassan Whiteside, Ryan Anderson, Yante Maten
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Heat poll.
Orlando Magic
- 2018/19 record: 42-40
- Over/under for 2019/20: 41.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Al-Farouq Aminu
- Lost: Timofey Mozgov, Jerian Grant, Jarell Martin
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Magic poll.
Atlanta Hawks
- 2018/19 record: 29-53
- Over/under for 2019/20: 33.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Hawks poll.
Washington Wizards
- 2018/19 record: 32-50
- Over/under for 2019/20: 26.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Davis Bertans, Ish Smith, Rui Hachimura, Moritz Wagner, Isaiah Thomas, C.J. Miles, Isaac Bonga, Admiral Schofield
- Lost: Bobby Portis, Tomas Satoransky, Jabari Parker, Trevor Ariza, Jeff Green, Dwight Howard, Sam Dekker, Chasson Randle
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Wizards poll.
Charlotte Hornets
- 2018/19 record: 39-43
- Over/under for 2019/20: 23.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Terry Rozier, PJ Washington, Cody Martin
- Lost: Kemba Walker, Jeremy Lamb, Tony Parker, Frank Kaminsky, Shelvin Mack
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Hornets poll.
Previous voting results:
- Philadelphia 76ers (54.5 wins): Over (54.9%)
- Boston Celtics (49.5 wins): Under (57.0%)
- Toronto Raptors (46.5 wins): Under (59.1%)
- Brooklyn Nets (43.5 wins): Over (58.3%)
- New York Knicks (27.5 wins): Under (54.9%)
- Denver Nuggets (53.5 wins): Over (51.8%)
- Utah Jazz (53.5 wins): Under (50.8%)
- Portland Trail Blazers (46.5 wins): Over (78.7%)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (35.5 wins): Under (57.5%)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (32.5 wins): Under (55.1%)
- Milwaukee Bucks (57.5 wins): Over (63.5%)
- Indiana Pacers (46.5 wins): Over (56.6%)
- Detroit Pistons (37.5 wins): Over (69.8%)
- Chicago Bulls (33.5 wins): Under (56.2%)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (24.5 wins): Under (70.0%)
- Los Angeles Clippers (54.5 wins): Over (53.9%)
- Los Angeles Lakers (51.5 wins): Over (50.3%)
- Golden State Warriors (48.5 wins): Over (54.3%)
- Sacramento Kings (38.5 wins): Over (66.2%)
- Phoenix Suns (29.5 wins): Under (61.8%)
The Hornets have waived Joe Chealey and Josh Perkins, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
A 23-year-old point guard, Chealey spent all of last season on a two-way contract with Charlotte. He got into just one NBA game, but was a starter for the organization’s G League affiliate in Greensboro, where he posted a 16.3/3.7/5.3 line in 43 games before a torn left meniscus ended his season in March.
Perkins, a rookie point guard out of Gonzaga, signed an Exhibit 10 deal in August. He was a 38.6% shooter from 3-point range in college. Both players have a good chance to start the season in Greensboro, Bonnell adds (Twitter link).
The moves trim the Hornets’ roster to 18 players ahead of next Monday’s final cutdown date. Charlotte has 13 guaranteed contracts, with both two-way slots already filled.
In the early hours of free agency, the Celtics discussed a three-way sign-and-trade that would have brought Kemba Walker to Boston while sending Kyrie Irving to the Nets and Terry Rozier to the Hornets, according to Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald.
The Celtics were hoping to pull off the deal and still have enough resources left to keep Al Horford, but the trade got scrapped when Horford elected to accept a four-year, $109MM contract from the Sixers.
The proposed transaction wouldn’t have been as difficult to execute as some in the media have claimed, Bulpett adds. The Nets had the cap space to sign Irving outright and would have sought some compensation to participate, but all three teams had interest. Bulpett states that while the deal never got close to completion, Brooklyn officials were clear about what they wanted and their price could have been met.
In an interview this week, Horford suggested that he might have given stronger consideration to staying in Boston if he had known Walker was joining the team.
“I don’t want to get caught up in the past,” Horford said, “but, yeah, that would have been totally different.”
The Celtics were willing to give the 33-year-old a four-year-deal, according to Bulpett, but he landed in a good situation in Philadelphia, where he is surrounded by enough talent to compete for a title and won’t be asked to play center as often because of Joel Embiid.