- Arkansas big man Daniel Gafford heads the list of six prospects the Hornets will bring in on Tuesday, according to a team press release. Gafford sits at No. 41 on Givony’s board. They’ll also take a look at guards Ky Bowman (Boston College), Amir Coffey (Minnesota), Miye Oni (Yale) and forwards Cody Martin (Nevada) and Chris Silva (South Carolina).
- Keldon Johnson, the No. 19 overall prospect on ESPN’s big board, said he has worked out for the Celtics and also has sessions on tap with the Heat, Hornets, and Timberwolves, per Robbins (via Twitter).
- Big man Tacko Fall has workouts scheduled with the Pacers, Knicks, Lakers, Cavaliers, and Hornets, according to Robbins (via Twitter). He may add more teams to that list if his schedule allows for it.
A pair of players who have other important things going on this summer will likely be part of Team USA’s entry in the FIBA World Cup, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times. Hornets guard Kemba Walker has already committed to play in the tournament in China, while Pelicans big man Anthony Davis has offered “strong indications” that he would like to be involved.
Walker will be part of a stellar class when free agency begins at the end of the month, while Davis hasn’t budged on his desire to be traded and will probably be involved a blockbuster deal at some point during the offseason.
Team USA officials would also like to add James Harden to the roster (Twitter link). Zion Williamson, expected to be the first selection in this year’s draft, will be contacted as well (Twitter link).
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich will guide the team in the tournament, which will run from August 31 to September 15. That leaves a small gap until NBA training camps, which open September 27 for teams making overseas trips and September 30 for everyone else (Twitter link).
The Hornets remain Kemba Walker‘s “first priority” in free agency, he tells Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
Walker will be among the most sought-after names on the market this summer after averaging a career-high 25.6 PPG and earning third-team All-NBA honors. That recognition qualifies him for a “super-max” contract and enables Charlotte to increase its five-year offer from $189.7MM to $221.3MM. Other teams will be limited to four years at $140.6MM, but Walker says his desire to remain with the Hornets is about more than money.
“That’s where I’ve been for eight years and that’s all I know,” he said. “Not many people get a chance to play for one NBA team throughout their career. When I go on my Instagram, I see, ‘Kemba leave! Kemba get out of Charlotte!’ People don’t understand, when they say you need to go ‘here’ and win, that winning is not guaranteed anywhere.”
Making that offer won’t be an easy decision for Charlotte, as Weiss explains. With several other hefty salaries already on the roster, giving Walker a super-max deal could push the Hornets into luxury tax territory for a roster that missed the playoffs. There wouldn’t be much room to maneuver until some of those contracts start to expire after next season.
Walker has heard that the Knicks and Mavericks may be planning to make a run at him, and more suitors will probably emerge if the Hornets don’t act quickly to lock him up on June 30. He brushes off the advantages of playing in a larger market, saying he doesn’t “need people to know what I’m doing all the time” and he’s not concerned with his “brand.”
Walker has built a strong connection with Charlotte since the Hornets traded up to draft him eight years ago. The security of a five-year deal will also be a strong selling point.
“I think at my age (29), whoever is my age in this situation, I think the fifth year is always important to them,” Walker said. “So yeah, it’s important for sure. But I don’t know, we gon’ see if we’re gonna work something out and figure it out. Hopefully, things work out, but it’s all about that God knows where I’m gonna go. He’s the only one who knows where I’m going right now, honestly. So I’m just going to let this thing play out.”
The Hornets are one of multiple Southeast teams that has been busy this week scouting draft-eligible prospects. According to a pair of press releases from the club, Charlotte brought in six prospects for pre-draft workouts on Friday and will take a closer look at six more on Saturday.
Nassir Little (UNC) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Virginia Tech) were the headliners in Friday’s group for the Hornets, joined by Devontae Cacok (UNC-Wilmington), Tyler Cook (Iowa), Jordan Davis (Northern Colorado), and Matt Morgan (Cornell).
On Saturday, the Hornets will work out Jordan Bone (Tennessee), Oshae Brissett (Syracuse), Ethan Happ (Wisconsin), C.J. Massinburg (Buffalo), Isaiah Roby (Nebrasaka), and Simisola Shittu (Vanderbilt).
In the market for a big man who could stretch the floor at the trade deadline, the Bucks made an effort to acquire Frank Kaminsky from the Hornets, but were turned down, sources tell Sean Deveney of Sporting News. Having missed out on Kaminsky, Milwaukee instead sent a handful of second-round picks to New Orleans to acquire Nikola Mirotic.
With Mirotic and Brook Lopez both headed for unrestricted free agency this summer, however, Deveney expects the Bucks to circle back to Kaminsky, who will be eligible for restricted free agency. Milwaukee’s ability to land him will depend on a number of factors, including how serious the Hornets are about re-signing him and what happens with the Bucks’ own free agent bigs. Still, it’s a potential pairing to watch, particularly if Kaminsky becomes unrestricted and is available at a discount.
The NBA Draft is less than one month away. As we await the big night, let’s take a look at some workout notes:
- Lagerald Vick (Kansas) will work out for the Knicks on Monday, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link). Vick will also work out with the Thunder and Bulls in the coming days.
- Jordan Caroline (Nevada) will work out for the Suns, Nuggets, and Hornets, per ESPN’s Jordan Schultz (Twitter link). Caroline made All-Team Mountain West during both his junior and senior seasons.
- Justin Simon (St. Johns) has worked out for the Celtics, according to Adam Zagoria of the New York Times (Twitter link). Simon is not ranked in ESPN’s Top 100.
- The Kings worked out six prospects on Thursday, according to the team’s website. Alex Robinson (TCU), Justin Wright-Foreman (Hofstra), Justin James (Wyoming), Jaylen Hoard (Wake Forest), Dean Wade (Kansas State), and Bennie Boatwright (USC).
- The Kings will also work out six more prospects on Friday, per their website. Ky Bowman (Boston College), Justin Robinson (Virginia Tech), Brandon Randolph (Arizona), Marial Shayok (Iowa State), Donta Hall (Alabama), and Josh Sharma (Stanford) are all expected to be in attendance.
A pair of reports on Wednesday indicated that the Rockets are open to the idea of shaking up their roster this summer. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that general manager Daryl Morey is aggressively scouring the market for potential upgrades and is open to trading just about any draft pick or any player not named James Harden, including Chris Paul. Marc Stein of The New York Times followed up on that story by adding that Houston has specifically gauged Clint Capela‘s trade value.
Today, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders continues to flesh out the story, tweeting that Eric Gordon is also among the players being made available by the Rockets in trade talks. According to Kyler, Houston is looking to “change up the locker room” and may be looking to add a lottery pick. Kyler has heard teams like the Celtics, Hornets, Magic, and Mavericks linked to the Rockets as potential trade partners.
Assuming the Warriors win another title, the Rockets could convince themselves for the second straight year that they were the NBA’s second-best team, and there’s no telling whether Golden State will bring back the same roster next year. That’s an argument in favor of not doing anything too drastic this offseason. Still, Morey has long been one of the NBA’s most aggressive executives when it comes to finding upgrades and avoiding complacency, so if he can find a way to extend the Rockets’ window of contention, the team has to seriously consider it.
Here’s more out of Houston:
- In his latest mailbag, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle takes an extended look at the shakeup on the Rockets’ coaching staff, writing that the changes stemmed from the fact that Morey “decided the Rockets could do better.” Within that same article, Feigen pushes back on a report linking Tyronn Lue to Houston. According to Feigen, the Rockets had interest in Lue last October, but didn’t make him an offer then and haven’t shown any interest in him since the season ended.
- According to Feigen, the Rockets are preparing as if they’ll have the taxpayer mid-level exception available, rather than the full mid-level exception. Unlike last season, when Houston spread its MLE around among multiple players, the club would rather try to use its 2019/20 MLE on a player who could be considered a “significant addition,” filling out the rest of the roster with minimum-salary players or trade acquisitions, Feigen writes.
- In case it wasn’t clear from Wednesday’s reports – or from owner Tilman Fertitta‘s previous comments about doing anything possible to improve the team – Feigen cites a source with knowledge of the Rockets’ plans who suggested this week that the club is open to making major changes to upgrade its roster. “‘Run it back’ is not what (the Rockets) do,” that source said.
- Fertitta reiterated that message this week as well, per Feigen: “Wherever we can improve coaching or players, let’s do it. But let’s not change to change. We have to know we can improve in that position whether it’s a coach, film guy or a trainer.”
- The Magic, Pacers, Knicks and Lakers all have an early interest in free agent Kemba Walker, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders tweets. Naturally, you could expect to add more teams to this list as June 30 draws closer. Since Walker made an All-NBA team, the Hornets can offer him a five-year, $221MM super=max contract once free agency opens.
Maryland sophomore forward Bruno Fernando headed a group of six players the Hornets worked out on Sunday. He’s currently listed No. 33 overall on ESPN’s Jonathan Givony list of Top 100 prospects. The other five players who came in, according to a team press release, included guards Shizz Alston Jr. (Temple), Justin Simon (St. John’s) and Keyshawn Woods (Ohio State), forward Lamar Stevens (Penn State) and center Raasean Davis (North Carolina Central).
We have more on the draft:
- Davis and Nevada forward Trey Porter will work out for the Wizards, Nicola Lupo of Sportando tweets.
- Miami (Ohio)’s Nike Sibande will return to school, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets. Sibande averaged 16.1 PPG and 5.1 RPG for the RedHawks last season.
- Iowa big man Tyler Cook will remain in the draft, Jeff Goodman at WatchStadium.com tweets. Cook averaged 14.5 PPG and 7.6 RPG in his junior year.
- North Carolina A&T shooting guard Terry Harris worked out for the Clippers last week, Chris Broussard of Fox Sports tweets. He’s the younger brother of Tobias Harris.