- One league source who spoke to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link) views the Celtics as the favorites for free agent point guard Kemba Walker, followed by the Hornets and Mavericks.
- Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer believes the Hornets made a mistake by drafting Jalen McDaniels with the No. 52 pick last Thursday night. McDaniels 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. At the very least, the club needs to explain to its fans why it was willing to overlook that, Fowler argues.
2:53pm: Updating his earlier report, Stein indicates that Boston is no longer a “stealth” suitor for Walker, tweeting that the Celtics and Mavericks will be at the front of the line for Kemba when free agency begins.
12:03pm: With the Celtics‘ roster and cap situation in a state of flux, the team is emerging as a “stealth suitor” for All-NBA point guard Kemba Walker, reports Marc Stein of The New York Times (via Twitter).
The Celtics’ situation is a fluid one, according to Stein (via Twitter), who acknowledges that the team will weigh a number of options to address both its backcourt and frontcourt. Kyrie Irving and Al Horford are expected to sign elsewhere and Aron Baynes is heading to Phoenix, while Terry Rozier and Marcus Morris are also free agents.
If the Celtics renounce all those players, they should have enough cap room to make a maximum-salary offer to a player like Walker, adding him to a core that features Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart. However, it sounds like that’s just one of the options that president of basketball operations Danny Ainge will consider.
The Mavericks and Lakers are among the teams believed to be eyeing Walker, who has also been frequently linked to the Knicks. For his part, Kemba has said that the Hornets remain his first priority and has indicated he’s open to accepting less than the super-max to return to Charlotte.
That super-max deal would be worth a projected $221MM+ over five years. A standard max with the Hornets projects to be worth just shy of $190MM over five seasons, while a rival suitor could offer Walker up to about $141MM for four years.
- In some negative news coming out of Charlotte, Brendan Marks and Michael Gordon of The Charlotte Observer are reporting that Hornets second-round draft pick Jalen McDaniels was sued by two female high school classmates around six months ago. Criminal charges were not pursued, but the duo claim in a civil suit that McDaniels recorded them performing sexual acts without their consent.
Washington State’s Robert Franks will sign a two-way contract with the Hornets, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
A 6’9″ forward, Franks had an outstanding senior season with the Cougars, posting a 21.6/7.2/2.6 line and shooting .399 from 3-point range while taking seven per game. He earned first team All-Pac 12 honors.
Joe Chealey and J.P. Macura were Charlotte’s two-way players last season, but both are free agents.
The Hornets will also ink Gonzaga’s Josh Perkins to an Exhibit 10 deal, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Twitter link). A 6’3″ guard, Perkins averaged 11.0 points and 6.3 assists per game as a fifth-year senior.
Even after moving up to select Culver at No. 6, the Timberwolves stayed active, according to Darren Wolfson and Danny Cunningham of Skor North, who report (via Twitter) that the team had discussions about the No. 12 pick with the Hornets. Those talks didn’t seem to get far, per Wolfson, adding that Sekou Doumbouya was the presumed target at that spot for Minnesota.
With more than $94MM in guaranteed salaries on their books for the 2019/20 season, without taking into account a potential maximum-salary contract ($32.7MM) for Kemba Walker, the Hornets look like a potential taxpayer for next year. However, speaking early Friday morning to reporters, including Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer, president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak made it sound as if being in the tax isn’t an option for the franchise.
“I would not anticipate that is something we would look to do,” Kupchak said of paying the tax. “There are ways to increase (the distance from the luxury-tax threshold). It’s important we address that as soon as possible. Everybody needs to get on and plan.”
As Bonnell observes, there are multiple paths the Hornets could take to stay out of the tax. They have a handful of highly-paid veterans on expiring contracts, so waiving-and-stretching a player like Bismack Biyombo ($17MM) could be one option. The team could also try trading someone like Marvin Williams ($15MM).
Of course, not re-signing key free agents like Walker and Jeremy Lamb is also a possibility, though I expect the team to do all it can to retain Kemba. Lamb may receive an offer in the neighborhood of $12MM per year from another club, Bonnell writes.
Here’s more on the Hornets:
- Re-signing Walker would have a domino effect on what the Hornets could do with the rest of their roster, Kupchak acknowledged (via Bonnell): “You’re talking about a substantial contract that goes out many years. When that happens, it creates some financial inflexibility that you have to deal with We have to be mindful of a Kemba contract, should we be lucky enough to re-sign him. There could be limitations (on other roster moves), absolutely.”
- Kupchak recently indicated that the Hornets are probably unlikely to use their $7.8MM trade exception from last summer’s Dwight Howard trade due to tax concerns, tweets Bonnell. That exception expires on July 6.
- The Hornets plan on having all three of the rookies they drafted on Thursday – PJ Washington, Cody Martin, and Jalen McDaniels – spend time in the G League in 2019/20, Kupchak said (per Bonnell).
- In a column for The Charlotte Observer, Bonnell explores how much added pressure the Lakers’ trade for Anthony Davis and interest in Kemba Walker will put on the Hornets.
While the Timberwolves were exploring trades involving the No. 6 pick after acquiring it from Phoenix, they plan on hanging onto Jarrett Culver, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
Still, it’s safe to assume Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas will continue to be aggressive in exploring trade options, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News, who tweets that Rosas seems to be open to discussing anyone except Karl-Anthony Towns.
Here are a few more draft-night notes and rumors:
- Sekou Doumbouya was higher than No. 15 on the Pistons‘ draft board, so the team was happy to snag him, a source tells Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Ellis hears that the Pistons were also seriously considering big man Goga Bitadze at No. 15 (Twitter link). Pistons executive Ed Stefanski said that Detroit explored trading up, but teams wanted too much, tweets Rod Beard of The Detroit News.
- The Hornets were close to trading up from No. 12, but felt like the price was excessive compared to what their options at No. 12 were, Hornets president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak said tonight (Twitter link via Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer). Kupchak added that Charlotte views PJ Washington as both a small forward and power forward.
- Jalen McDaniels, Miye Oni, Zylan Cheatham, and Jaylen Nowell are among the prospects receiving consideration from the Knicks at No. 55, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post, who tweets that New York likely won’t draft Tacko Fall.
Although they brought in Vanderbilt point guard Darius Garland for a last-minute workout today, the Knicks remain locked in on selecting Duke forward R.J. Barrett with the No. 3 overall pick, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
With just over 24 hours to go until the 2019 NBA draft, rumors continue to trickle in about which prospects other teams might be targeting with their first-round picks. Jeremy Woo and Jake Fischer of SI.com suggest that league sources believe the Celtics – who hold Nos. 14, 20, and 22 – have serious interest in Kentucky sharpshooter Tyler Herro. The SI duo also reports that the Spurs – who pick at 19 and 29 – are among the teams with real interest in Croatian forward Luka Samanic.
Woo and Fischer share a few more tidbits in their latest mock draft, writing that the Hornets, Heat, and Celtics are all showing “a degree of interest” in USC’s Kevin Porter Jr., who could be in play to come off the board near the end of the lottery.
League sources also tell SI.com that the Magic have put the No. 46 pick on the trade block and could sell it, with the Lakers, Wizards, and Trail Blazers among the teams believed to have interest in purchasing a second-rounder.
Here’s more on the draft:
- Kevin Porter Jr. (USC), Nicolas Claxton (Georgia), and Mfiondu Kabengele (Florida State) have received last-minute invites to the Green Room for Thursday’s NBA draft, reports ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Twitter links). That increases the number of prospects expected to be in attendance in the Green Room to 23, Givony notes.
- Speaking today to reporters, including Jake Fischer of SI.com (Twitter link), Texas center Jaxson Hayes said he only worked out for two teams, the Bulls and Hawks, during the pre-draft process. Those clubs hold three top-10 picks between them.
- UNC guard Coby White also confirmed his pre-draft workouts today, as Gina Mizell of The Athletic relays (via Twitter). White worked out for four lottery teams, including the Suns and Bulls, who are both believed to be in the market for a point guard.
- Terry Harris, the younger brother of pending free agent Tobias Harris, is seeing his stock rise, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer relays (Twitter link). The younger Harris has worked out for the Suns and Thunder, among many other teams.
Chris Crouse contributed to this post.
Hornets forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has picked up his 2019/20 player option, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). The move ensures that Kidd-Gilchrist locks in his $13MM salary for next season, putting him on track to reach unrestricted free agency in 2020.
Kidd-Gilchrist’s decision doesn’t come as a surprise. The former second overall pick is coming off a down year in which he averaged 6.7 PPG and 3.8 RPG in a career-low 18.4 minutes per contest. Having started all but four of 357 career games for the Hornets heading into the season, he came off the bench for 61 of his 64 contests this past year.
Kidd-Gilchrist is also currently recovering from a surgical procedure which he underwent last week to address a chronic groin strain. The 25-year-old is expected to be ready to return to action in time for training camp, according to the Hornets.
With Kidd-Gilchrist opting in, the Hornets will now have to account for three pricey player options on their 2019/20 cap, as Bismack Biyombo and Marvin Williams previously picked up theirs as well.
[RELATED: NBA Player Option Decisions For 2019/20]
In total, those three options tack on about $45MM to Charlotte’s team salary for next season, increasing the club’s total guaranteed commitments to $94MM+. That figure doesn’t include new contracts for free agents like Jeremy Lamb, Frank Kaminsky, or – most notably – Kemba Walker.