- The Hornets are thinking seriously about going with smaller lineups more often, featuring Michael Kidd-Gilchrist at power forward and Frank Kaminsky at center, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer reports. Charlotte has plenty of rotation-worthy options at small forward and shooting guard to allow those position changes to take place, Bonnell continues. If Kidd-Gilchrist logs significant playing time at power forward, Kaminsky could join an unsettled rotation at center and his perimeter defensive shortcomings wouldn’t be as much of an issue, Bonnell adds.
Fourteen players will participate in a Las Vegas training camp beginning this Thursday, USA Basketball announced today in a press release. Of those 14 players, 12 will be named to Team USA’s roster for the club’s upcoming qualifying games for the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
This set of games – the first window for the second round of qualifiers – will take place later this month. Team USA will face Uruguay on September 14, then play against Panama on September 17.
The following players will be vying for Team USA roster spots for these qualifying contests:
- Bryce Alford, G
- Dwayne Bacon, SG
- V.J. Beachem, F
- Jordan Crawford, SG
- Henry Ellenson, F/C
- Reggie Hearn, SG
- Isaiah Hicks, PF
- Dakari Johnson, C
- Frank Mason III, PG
- Ben Moore, F
- Chasson Randle, PG
- Travis Trice, SG
- Jameel Warney, PF
- Derrick White, PG
In the first round of qualifying games for the 2019 World Cup, Team USA was made up predominantly of G League players. That’s the case to some extent again this time, with guys like Hearn and Warney returning. However, many of the players this time around are currently under contract with NBA teams, including Bacon (Hornets), Ellenson (Pistons), Hicks (Knicks), Mason (Kings), Trice (Bucks), and White (Spurs).
“With our September second-round games marking the start of the most critical part of the World Cup Qualifying, I think it is imperative for us to look for players who possess mental fortitude, who are tough, and who have experience,” said Team USA head coach Jeff Van Gundy. “All of our second-round games are going to very, very difficult and competitive battles. Argentina, Panama and Uruguay are all really good and well coached.”
The second round of the World Cup qualifiers will take place over three windows of competition in September, November, and February. Team USA will play two games apiece vs. Argentina, Panama, and Uruguay during that stretch.
Having posted a 5-1 record during the first round of qualifiers, Team USA is tied for first with Argentina in Group E, which is made up of six teams. If Team USA remains in the top three of the Group E standings by the end of February’s games, the squad will qualify for the 2019 World Cup, which will take place in China next September.
Jeremy Lamb might be the Hornets’ starter at shooting guard, but he could also be entering his final season with the team, writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer in his latest mailbag column. Lamb started 18 times in his 80 games last season and posted the best numbers of his six-year NBA career, averaging 12.9 points per game and shooting 37% from 3-point range.
Bonnell expects new coach James Borrego to use Nicolas Batum at small forward more often, opening a spot in the backcourt that will be filled either by Lamb or Malik Monk. Lamb improved his defense last year and provides more size than Monk, so he’s considered the favorite to win the starting job heading into camp.
Lamb is entering the final year of a contract extension he signed in 2015 and will be seeking a raise from his salary of just under $7.5MM. Charlotte will have a tight cap situation heading into the summer with Kemba Walker also as a free agent. With Batum, Monk and Dwayne Bacon as alternatives as shooting guard, the team may decide not to spend big on Lamb.
Bonnell offers more news on the Hornets in the same piece:
- Expect Frank Kaminsky to see more minutes at center in the preseason, and that could wind up being his primary position in the future. Kaminsky has been used mainly as a power forward during his first three seasons in the league, but the Hornets may want a better outside shooter in the middle after trading away Dwight Howard. Charlotte’s front office will have to decide soon whether to extend a qualifying offer of roughly $5MM to Kaminsky to make him a restricted free agent next summer.
- The Hornets plan to use free agent addition Tony Parker as Walker’s primary backup this season. The longtime Spur will play about 15 to 17 minutes a night and could be used in combination with Walker to close out games. Rookie Devonte’ Graham looked good in Summer League, but Bonnell doesn’t expect him to be given a large role this season.
- Offseason changes may put Batum in position for a bounceback year. The addition of Parker, Batum’s close friend and teammate from the French national squad, should help, as should improved health after Batum missed the entire preseason last year with an elbow injury. Bonnell notes that Batum was an awkward fit with Howard, who liked to dominate the ball in the post and often slowed down the offense.
With training camps set to open later this month, time is running short for O.J. Mayo if he wants to get reinstated before the new season starts, writes Spencer Davies of Basketball Insiders. Mayo hasn’t played in the NBA since fracturing his right ankle in March of 2016. A few months later, he was banned for two years for a second violation of the league’s Anti-Drug Program.
Mayo is now eligible for reinstatement and is reportedly searching for an opportunity. He played 21 games this summer with a team in Puerto Rico and impressed scouts with his performance. He was released in June, possibly because of his desire to join an NBA team.
The league and the players association would both have to sign off on Mayo’s return before he can be reinstated. He also has to prove that he has gone more than a year without a failed drug test. Milwaukee renounced his rights after the suspension, so Mayo will be an unrestricted free agent if he does return to the NBA.
There’s more NBA-related news to pass along:
- Fresh off winning a BIG3 title, Glen Davis is exploring his overseas options, relays Nicola Lupo of Sportando. Davis played eight years with the Celtics, Magic and Clippers, but hasn’t been in the league since the 2014/15 season.
- Health concerns may derail a contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv for Johnny O’Bryant, tweets Roi Cohen of Sport 5 in Israel. A physical revealed a potential heart problem for the power forward, and the team is waiting for the results of cardiac tests before making a decision. O’Bryant spent part of last season with the Hornets, averaging 4.8 points in 36 games. He was shipped to the Knicks at the trade deadline in exchange for Willy Hernangomez, then was waived the next day. O’Bryant also played for the Bucks and Nuggets in a four-year NBA career.
- After an offseason trade to the Spurs, DeMar DeRozan is the player most likely to have a disappointing season, according to Drew Moresca of Basketball Insiders. DeRozan will miss the chemistry he had with Kyle Lowry in Toronto, Moresca writes, and the advantages of playing alongside a top flight point guard. San Antonio also has fewer above-average 3-point shooters than the Raptors did, so DeRozan may find a more difficult path to drive to the basket. Moresca tabs the Heat as the team most likely to decline, with the Pelicans as runners-up.
With Brandon Knight headed to Houston in a four-player trade, the Suns‘ point guard depth chart looks thinner than ever. According to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link), Phoenix has made an effort to address the position by attempting to trade for a starting point guard, but hasn’t had any luck so far.
Gambadoro names Damian Lillard, Kemba Walker, and Terry Rozier as a few of the point guards the Suns have been targeting, though he doesn’t provide much more details beyond that. Even if the Suns made inquiries on those players, I can’t imagine their conversation with the Trail Blazers for Lillard, for instance, went very far.
The Hornets and Celtics may have been a little more receptive to discussions involving their point guards, who are entering contract years, but it would certainly still take a substantial offer to pry Walker away from Charlotte or to get Rozier out of Boston.
While Gambadoro suggests that the Suns “will have to make a trade,” he notes that the Bucks’ first-round pick owed to Phoenix isn’t particularly valuable as a trade chip, given its protections. The Suns could put some combination of their own first-rounders or young prospects on the table in a trade offer, but it’s not clear how aggressive the team is willing to be in the short term — it’s possible the club will see what it can get out of its current point guards to start the season, perhaps revisiting the trade market closer to the deadline.
With Knight no longer in the mix, the Suns’ point guard group includes Shaquille Harrison and Isaiah Canaan, who are both on non-guaranteed contracts, and rookies De’Anthony Melton and Elie Okobo. Canaan has the most NBA experience of the bunch, but he’s coming off a major leg injury. Melton and Okobo, of course, have yet to make their respective NBA debuts, while Harrison has appeared in just 23 regular season contests.
- The Hornets plan to name Joe Wolf as the new head coach of their G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, per a report from Adam Johnson of 2 Ways & 10 Days. A University of North Carolina alum, Wolf spent last season serving as an assistant coach for UNC Wilmington after spending multiple years as a coach in the G League beforehand.
A total of 28 trades have been completed by NBA teams since the 2017/18 season ended, including a pair of three-way deals. The Sixers have been involved in a quarter of those swaps, completing seven deals during the 2018 offseason. While Philadelphia has been the most active team on the trade market, the Hornets aren’t far behind, having finalized five deals of their own.
[RELATED: 2018 NBA Offseason Trades]
It’s a little ironic that the Sixers have completed the most trades of any NBA team this summer, since Philadelphia is the only club without a permanent head of basketball operations in place. Head coach Brett Brown has served as the interim president of basketball ops since Bryan Colangelo was fired in June, but if there was any uncertainty about the structure of the team’s front office, it certainly didn’t impact the 76ers’ ability to make deals.
None of the Sixers’ trades was a blockbuster, but a few of them will have a noticeable impact on the team’s 2018/19 roster. Wilson Chandler and Mike Muscala were acquired in separate deals, while Philadelphia’s most interesting move saw the club trade Mikal Bridges for Zhaire Smith and a future unprotected first-round pick.
As for the Hornets, they also fired their general manager earlier this season, replacing Rich Cho with Mitch Kupchak. Given the new-look front office and a team salary that was hovering close to the tax line, it’s not as surprising that the Hornets have been active on the trade market over the last couple months. Kupchak’s most noteworthy moves involved Timofey Mozgov — the Hornets sent Dwight Howard to Brooklyn for a package that included Mozgov, then flipped him to the Magic in a three-way trade involving Bismack Biyombo.
Here are a few other notable details related to this offseason’s trades so far:
Teams that have made the most trades:
- Philadelphia 76ers: 7
- Charlotte Hornets: 5
- Atlanta Hawks: 4
- Brooklyn Nets: 4
- Dallas Mavericks: 4
- Los Angeles Clippers: 4
- Oklahoma City Thunder: 4
- Orlando Magic: 4
- Denver Nuggets: 3
- Phoenix Suns: 3
Teams that haven’t made a trade:
- Golden State Warriors
- Indiana Pacers
- Miami Heat
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New Orleans Pelicans
- New York Knicks
Players that have been traded multiple times:
- Timofey Mozgov: Nets to Hornets to Magic.
- Darrell Arthur: Nuggets to Nets to Suns.
- Dakari Johnson: Thunder to Magic to Grizzlies.
- Rodney Purvis: Magic to Thunder to Celtics (waived by Celtics).
- Hamidou Diallo (draft rights): Nets to Hornets to Thunder.
- Maarty Leunen (draft rights): Clippers to Mavericks to Rockets.
- Renaldas Seibutis (draft rights): Mavericks to Clippers to Cavaliers.
Future first-round picks that have been traded:
- Mavericks‘ 2019 first-round pick to Hawks (top-five protected).
- Nuggets‘ 2019 first-round pick to Nets (top-12 protected).
- Raptors‘ 2019 first-round pick to Spurs (top-20 protected).
- Heat‘s 2021 first-round pick to Sixers (from Suns; unprotected).
- Thunder‘s 2022 first-round pick to Hawks (top-14 protected).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist will likely have a reduced role under new coach James Borrego and may not last the entire season with the Hornets, writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer in a question-and-answer column. Since being taken second overall in the 2012 draft, Kidd-Gilchrist has started all but four of the games in which he has appeared during his six seasons in Charlotte, but his position may be in jeopardy.
Bonnell cites “offensive limitations” that will make him less appealing with Borrego in charge. In a league where most forwards are expected to help stretch the defense, Kidd-Gilchrist only attempted two 3-pointers last season and is 7 for 36 from long distance for his career.
With a $13MM contract for this season and a $13MM player option for 2019/20, Kidd-Gilchrist won’t be easy to move. Bonnell speculates that GM Mitch Kupchak might have more success around the trade deadline, but still may have to take on long-term salary in return.
Bonnell passes on more Hornets information in the same piece:
- Borrego emphasizes quick decision making on offense, which is among the reasons Dwight Howard was traded away after a productive season. The new coach wants constant movement and doesn’t like to see players holding onto the ball while deciding their next move. Howard is often criticized for slowing down the offense with his low-post game.
- The Hornets may not be in a hurry to make trades before training camp opens next month because Borrego would like some time to evaluate his players to see who best fits his system.
- First-round pick Miles Bridges will be used primarily at small forward, but Borrego may experiment with him as a stretch four during preseason. Bonnell notes that Bridges dropped about 20 pounds between college and Summer League, where he showed that he can distribute the ball and create mismatches.
- Team owner Michael Jordan shouldn’t be judged harshly for the Hornets’ failure to attract free agents. The organization is well over the salary cap, and Charlotte doesn’t offer the natural advantages that some other cities do. Bonnell states that if Jordan were running the Lakers, he would have been just as successful as Magic Johnson when it came to luring LeBron James.
- Jordan can’t circumvent the salary cap to give extra money to impending free agent Kemba Walker through his shoe deal. Walker is a paid endorser of the Jordan Brand, as are some other Hornets, but the league laid out rules against using that to get around the cap way back when Jordan first got a stake in the Wizards.
- The Hornets have struggled to attract big name free agents since the franchise returned to North Carolina in 2004, but Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer doesn’t think it has as much to do with the city of Charlotte itself as it has to do with the team’s lack of cap space. Per Bonnell, money is the No. 1 factor in free agency and, unfortunately, the Hornets don’t have significant space under the salary cap now or in the immediate future.
Only a small handful of two-way players from 2017/18 had their contracts carried over to the 2018/19 season, while a few more signed new two-way deals. For the most part though, NBA teams have filled their two-way contract slots for the coming season with new faces, including several rookies who went undrafted in 2018.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Two-Way Contracts]
At the moment, 44 of 60 league-wide two-way contract slots are occupied, with a 45th set to be filled once the Wizards finalize their reported agreement with Jordan McRae. That leaves just 15 two-way deals available across the NBA as training camps approach.
Some clubs may not fill these slots before camps get underway, preferring to sign players to non-guaranteed NBA contracts and then convert those deals to two-way pacts later, depending on how players perform in camp and in the preseason. By the time the 2018/19 regular season begins though, I don’t expect many two-way slots to still be open.
With the help of our two-way contract tracker, which lists all the players currently on two-way deals, here are the teams who can still offer two-way contracts without waiving anyone:
Two open slots:
- Brooklyn Nets
- Houston Rockets
- Portland Trail Blazers
- San Antonio Spurs
One open slot:
- Charlotte Hornets
- Chicago Bulls
- Golden State Warriors
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Phoenix Suns
- Sacramento Kings
- Toronto Raptors