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Hornets Sign Miles Bridges To Rookie Contract

July 2nd, 2018 at 9:52am CST by Luke Adams

The Hornets have signed first-round pick Miles Bridges to his four-year rookie scale contract, a league source tells Michael Scotto of The Athletic (Twitter link). The deal will feature two guaranteed years, with team options for years three and four.

Bridges, who was selected with the No. 12 pick, was part of a draft-night trade. The Clippers technically drafted Bridges, sending his draft rights and two second-round picks to Charlotte in exchange for the draft rights to No. 11 pick Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Bridges is coming off a sophomore season at Michigan State in which he averaged 17.1 PPG, 7.0 RPG, and 2.7 APG with a shooting line of .457/.364/.853. He could potentially handle either forward position at the NBA level.

Assuming he signs for the full 120% of the rookie scale for the No. 12 pick, Bridges will earn a first-year salary of $3.2MM. He’ll be extension-eligible in 2021 and eligible for restricted free agency in 2022.

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Hornets Notes: Monk, FA Targets, Coaching Staff

June 30th, 2018 at 9:28pm CST by Austin Kent

A disappointing 2017/18 put the Hornets in an awkward position, staffed with enough talent to compete for one of the East’s final playoff spots, yet financially compelled to blow things up and start fresh. This season stands to be different. In a recent interview with Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer, newly appointed head coach James Borrego discusses his vision for the club heading forward.

The biggest change heading into 2018/19 is Borrego’s willingness to incorporate 2017 pick Malik Monk heavily in the team’s rotation. Whereas previous head coach Steve Clifford opted to play veterans over youth, Borrego sees Monk as “major player for the team” with the potential to be an elite shooter.

Borrego also notes that it’s a priority of the Hornets to add a ballhandler that can serve as the primary backup point guard to Kemba Walker.

There’s more out of Charlotte tonight:

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Qualifying Offer Decisions: Caboclo, M. Brown, Paige

June 29th, 2018 at 1:49pm CST by Luke Adams

The Kings won’t tender a qualifying offer to former first-round pick Bruno Caboclo, league sources tell ESPN’s Chris Haynes (Twitter link). Caboclo will become an unrestricted free agent on Sunday.

A qualifying offer, which would have been worth $3.5MM+, was never expected for Caboclo, who has appeared in just 35 games in his NBA career since being picked 20th overall in the 2014 draft.

At the time the Raptors selected him, draft guru Fran Fraschilla infamously referred to Caboclo as “two years away from being two years away,” but after four NBA seasons, the 6’9″ forward doesn’t appear to be on the verge of breaking through. In 10 games (10.0 MPG) with the Kings after being included in a midseason trade, the 22-year-old averaged 2.6 PPG and 2.1 RPG with a .310/.200/.833 shooting line.

Here are a couple more updates on qualifying offer decisions:

  • The Rockets have issued a qualifying offer to two-way player Markel Brown, tweets Michael Scotto of The Athletic. The one-year, two-way contract offer, which includes a $50K guarantee, will give Houston the opportunity to match an offer sheet for Brown.
  • Former UNC guard Marcus Paige, who was on a two-way contract with the Hornets, won’t be receiving a qualifying offer from the team, according to a press release. The decision ensures that Paige will become an unrestricted free agent.
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Hornets’ Treveon Graham To Become UFA

June 29th, 2018 at 9:01am CST by Luke Adams

The Hornets won’t extend a qualifying offer to Treveon Graham, who had been eligible for restricted free agency, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). As a result, Graham will become an unrestricted free agent on Sunday.

Graham, 24, appeared in 63 games in his second season in Charlotte, playing a part-time role for the club. He averaged a modest 4.3 PPG, 1.9 RPG, and 0.9 APG in 16.7 minutes per contest.

A qualifying offer for Graham would have been worth just shy of $1.7MM. While the Hornets no longer project to be over the tax – due to their Dwight Howard/Timofey Mozgov trade agreement – the club would still probably rather fill Graham’s roster spot with a minimum-salary player. It’s possible Graham himself could be re-signed, though Charlotte’s level of interest is unclear.

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Details On Hamidou Diallo Trade

June 23rd, 2018 at 2:48pm CST by Luke Adams

When he was selected with the 45th overall pick in the draft on Thursday night, Hamidou Diallo technically became a member of the Nets. However, Brooklyn had already agreed to send that pick to the Hornets, who have subsequently agreed to flip it to the Thunder.

Neither of those trade can become official until after the July moratorium ends on July 6, but we now know what the Hornets will receive from the Thunder in exchange for Diallo. Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer reports (via Twitter) that Oklahoma City will send its 2019 second-round pick and cash considerations to Charlotte as part of the swap.

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Kulboka Likely To Remain In Europe

June 22nd, 2018 at 8:02pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Hornets plan to stash 6’10” forward Arnoldas Kulboka in Europe, Chapel Fowler of the Charlotte Observer relays. The Hornets took the Lithuanian native with the No. 55 pick with that plan in mind. “He’s got a buyout that’s manageable, but we’ve talked to his representative …” GM Mitch Kupchak told Fowler and other media members. “At least right now, the plan is to keep him over there and hopefully watch him develop and then, when he’s ready, bring him back over here and see how good he is.”

  • The Hawks dealt their early second-round pick at No. 34 because the players they liked in that spot were guards and they already got two backcourt players in the first round, Cunningham reports in a separate tweet. The Hawks secured two future second-rounders in their deal with the Hornets. In the first round, Atlanta wound up with point guard Trae Young after dropping down two spots from the No. 3 slot and chose shooting guard Kevin Huerter at No. 19.
  • Kupchak would like to see point guard Kemba Walker play his whole career with the Hornets but can’t do much about that before Walker hits free agency next season, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer writes. A contract extension isn’t feasible because of Charlotte’s salary-cap restraints. “He is on a (contract) that may make it a challenge going forward to figure out (the best course) before he becomes a free agent,” Kupchak told Bonnell.
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Cavaliers Rumors: LeBron, Sexton, K. Walker

June 22nd, 2018 at 2:27pm CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers don’t yet know what LeBron James plans to do with his 2018/19 player option or his potential free agency, but GM Koby Altman said on Thursday night that the team has established a “good dialogue” with James’ camp, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com.

“I think LeBron has more than earned the right to approach his contracts the way he does. He’s done that before, so this is nothing new for us,” Altman said. “We want to respect his space during this process, and I continue to have really good dialogue with his management team as he goes through that process. That’s probably all I can say at this point regarding him, but we don’t take him for granted. We love him, this city loves him. He means the world to us and this franchise.”

While James has yet to tip his hand on his preferred destination for the 2018/19 season, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst suggested during an appearance on the network that the family aspect of LeBron’s decision probably favors the Cavs and Lakers, as opposed to team like the Rockets. Windhorst isn’t sure that James’ family would feel comfortable going to Houston (video link via Lakers Outsiders).

Here’s more on the Cavs:

  • A previous report indicated that LeBron’s camp is high on Alabama point guard Collin Sexton, who was drafted eighth overall by the Cavs in last night’s draft. Although the Cavs hope that the idea of playing with Sexton could appeal to James, they were comfortable picking Sexton either way, sources tell Ken Berger of Bleacher Report. According to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com, the Cavs fully intend to keep Sexton rather than trading him.
  • Two league sources tell Berger that the Cavaliers continue to explore the possibility of a Kemba Walker trade with the Hornets. It’s hard to imagine such a deal being completed without the inclusion of Sexton.
  • Executives who spoke to Berger were extremely skeptical that the Cavaliers’ addition of Sexton would move the needle at all for LeBron. However, according to Berger, opinions among executives are split on the Cavs’ chances of retaining the future Hall-of-Famer. One Eastern Conference exec says it would take “ownership of the team” for James to stay in Cleveland, while a Western executive put the odds at 50-50.
  • GM Koby Altman, who said that team owner Dan Gilbert will “spare no expense” as the Cavs push for another title, spoke about the team’s next steps, per Vardon: “We have to invest in player development, we have to get better with our youth and then we have to explore opportunities to add and try to improve our talent level as well. That’s my job and we are certainly trying to attack that as we speak for sure.”
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Hawks To Trade Pick No. 34 To Charlotte

June 21st, 2018 at 9:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Hawks have agreed to trade the 34th pick to the Hornets, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. Charlotte used the pick on Kansas guard Devonte’ Graham.

The 23-year-old point guard spent four years with the Jayhawks and was named Big 12 Player of the Year as a senior. He averaged 17.3 points and 7.2 assists in leading Kansas to the conference title.

The Hornets need to find depth at point guard with back-up Michael Carter-Williams headed for free agency.

Atlanta will receive a pair of future second-rounders in return. They are due in 2019 and 2023, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.

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Clippers Acquire Shai Gilgeous-Alexander From Hornets

June 21st, 2018 at 7:42pm CST by Luke Adams

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander came off the board at No. 11 to the Hornets, but he won’t remain with Charlotte, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Wojnarowski reports that the Clippers are sending the No. 12 pick and two second-round picks to the Hornets in exchange for Gilgeous-Alexander, Woj adds (via Twitter).

With their newly-acquired No. 12 pick, the Hornets selected Miles Bridges, per Jeff Goodman (Twitter link). The deal is now official.

Gilgeous-Alexander, who remained out of sight through most of the workout process, gets his reported wish to play in L.A. At 6’6″, his size and versatility make him attractive to NBA scouts, some of whom believe he could become the best point guard in the draft. A late bloomer at Kentucky, Gilgeous-Alexander became a starter midway through the season and averaged 14.4 points and 5.1 assists in 37 games.

Bridges failed to raise his draft status after a surprise decision to return to Michigan State for his sophomore season, but he could still be a nice pickup for the Hornets. In two years with the Spartans, he averaged 17.0 points per game and shot 38% from 3-point range.

As for the future picks changing hands in the deal, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer reports (via Twitter) that the Hornets will get second-rounders in 2020 and 2021.

Arthur Hill contributed to this post.

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