- Oregon shooting guard Troy Brown, whose stock has been on the rise as of late, will work out for the Hornets next Sunday, tweets Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune. Brown has been viewed as more of a mid-to-late first-round pick, but Charlotte holds the No. 11 overall selection.
If the Hornets are going to turn the fate of their franchise around, they’ll have to improve how they handle lottery picks. Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes that only one of their seven different top-11 picks since 2011 has been an All-Star.
Texas center Mo Bamba got high praise from the Suns after working out for the team Saturday, relays Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic. Phoenix is very likely to take another center, Arizona’s DeAndre Ayton, with the top pick, but GM Ryan McDonough believes Bamba has a bright NBA future, comparing him with Defensive Player of the Year finalist Rudy Gobert.
“At 20 years old, I think he’s ahead of where Rudy was,” McDonough said. “Now Rudy has made tremendous strides over the last three or four years. I think the question for Mo will be, can he build out his body like Rudy has? But in terms of measurements, they’re similar and in terms of willingness and desire to anchor a defense and protect the rim, they’re similar. It’s a great comp for Mo.”
There’s more draft news to pass along:
- Bamba is part of a series of top prospects the Suns are working out this week. Michigan State’s Jaren Jackson Jr. is in town today, the team announced on its website, following appearances by Ayton and Marvin Bagley III.
- Bamba looks like the definition of a modern NBA center and could wind up being the best player in the draft, writes Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Bamba provides size, a draft combine record 7’10” wingspan, mobility and intelligence, Givony notes, but there are questions about his physical frame after putting on 30 pounds in three years and his uneven performance in college. “Although there’s no one I really pattern my game after, I am a firm believer in stealing stuff from other people,” Bamba said. “When I sat down with [ player development specialist Drew Hanlen], we watched a lot of Jo-Jo [Joel Embiid], we watched a lot of AD [Anthony Davis]. Guys who can step out and move their feet and create their own shot offensively as a 7-footer.”
- Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert called Collin Sexton a “very interesting prospect” after getting an up-close look at the Alabama guard during a workout Saturday, relays Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com.
- Kentucky’s Kevin Knox and Michigan State’s Miles Bridges worked out for the Knicks on Saturday, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. “I’m the second-youngest player in the draft this year, but that doesn’t mean anything,’’ said Knox, who is still 18. “It’s not an excuse. I’m in the NBA and I put my name in the draft for a reason — because I think I’m ready. My age has nothing to do with it.’’ Also participating in the workout were SMU’s Shake Milton, Miami’s Bruce Brown , Texas Tech’s Zhaire Smith and Kentucky’s Hamidou Diallo.
- The Jazz are hosting six players for a session today, the team announced on Twitter. Attending will be Utah’s Justin Bibbins, Purdue’s Vince Edwards, Australia’s William McDowell-White, France’s Amine Noua, Marshall’s Ajdin Penava and Lincoln Memorial’s Emanuel Terry.
- Duke’s Grayson Allen had to pull out of today’s workout with the Hawks after suffering a minor injury during warmups, tweets Michael Cunningham of The Journal-Constitution. Also at today’s session were Creighton’s Marcus Foster, Louisville’s Anas Mahmoud, Rhode Island’s E.C. Matthews, UNLV’s Brandon McCoy and Boston College’s Jerome Robinson.
- The Hornets will host their sixth pre-draft workout Monday with Southeastern Louisiana’s Jordan Capps, Notre Dame’s Matt Farrell, Mercer’s Ria’n Holland, Xavier’s J.P. Macura, Illinois-Chicago’s Tai Odiase and Queens College’s Todd Winters scheduled to attend.
- The Hornets are hosting their fourth pre-draft workout on Saturday, according to the team. Joe Chealey (College of Charleston), Allerik Freeman (N.C. State), Dakota Mathias (Purdue), Doral Moore (Wake Forest), and Jeff Roberson (Vanderbilt) will participate, alongside Texas A&M’s Robert Williams.
- Point guard Collin Sexton is working out for the Knicks today, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Givony also notes that the Suns, Kings, Sixers, and Hornets were in attendance at Wendell Carter Jr.‘s Pro Day last week. Carter is working out for New York this week too.
- Notre Dame guard Matt Farrell has a couple more pre-draft workouts coming up, with a Bulls audition scheduled for Friday and the Hornets sometime next week, tweets Josh Newman of The Asbury Park Press.
After oscillating between lottery appearances and first-round playoff exits during Steve Clifford‘s first four years in Charlotte, the Hornets endured a second consecutive 36-46 season in 2017/18, resulting in Clifford’s ouster. The latest uninspiring stretch for the franchise, which hasn’t won a postseason series since being reborn in 2004, also resulted in the dismissal of general manager Rich Cho.
With Cho and Clifford out, former Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak has taken over the basketball operations department, hiring Spurs assistant James Borrego as the Hornets’ new head coach. Despite the changes in the front office and on the bench, 11 of Charlotte’s 14 players from 2017/18 – including the club’s top nine highest-paid veterans – have guaranteed contracts for next season, creating uncertainty about how much the actual roster will change.
Here are five key questions facing the franchise this summer:
1. Will the Hornets trade Kemba Walker?
Walker’s name surfaced in a number of rumors prior to the trade deadline, and it wasn’t simply baseless speculation. Hornets owner Michael Jordan confirmed that the club was listening to inquiries on its star point guard, though he cautioned that Charlotte wasn’t shopping Walker and said the price would be high.
The Hornets’ front office has undergone some changes since then, but Jordan will still be the one signing off on roster decisions and he sounds willing to approve a deal if Kupchak decides to go in that direction. Still, moving Walker for a fair return won’t be easy. The former UConn star has just one year left on his current contract, so any team interested in acquiring him would have to be pretty confident that he’d be willing to re-up.
Charlotte also reportedly has somewhat conflicting goals in a Walker trade. Jordan stated that the team would only move its point guard for an All-Star caliber player, but attaching an unwanted contract to Walker also represents the club’s best chance to dump salary. It’s unlikely that the team would be able to simultaneously achieve both goals.
2. How can the Hornets reduce team salary?
In Nicolas Batum ($24MM cap hit for 2018/19), Dwight Howard ($23.82MM), Marvin Williams ($14.09MM), Cody Zeller ($13.53MM), and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist ($13MM), the Hornets have five veterans who will earn more than Walker next season, and all of them except for Howard remain under contract for multiple years.
With those five players totaling more than $88MM on next year’s cap and providing modest production, the Hornets are hamstrung when it comes to upgrading their roster. Attaching one or two of those players to Walker in a trade would help Charlotte create a little financial flexibility and kick-start a rebuild, but if Walker isn’t moved, it’s not clear how the team can get out from under any of those contracts without attaching another asset.
If the Hornets simply want to create a little more breathing room below the tax line and cut costs slightly, Jeremy Lamb is probably the most realistic trade candidate. Lamb is entering a contract year and is more affordable ($7.49MM) than many of his teammates. He’s also coming off his best NBA season (12.9 PPG, .370 3PT%), meaning Charlotte could actually ask for a draft pick in a trade involving him, rather than having to surrender one.
Potential lottery pick Robert Williams will kick off his pre-draft workout schedule this week as he visits the Bulls on Thursday, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). According to Wojnarowski, Williams will follow up that Chicago session with auditions for the Hornets and Knicks.
The No. 13 prospect on Jonathan Givony’s big board at ESPN.com, Williams will receive “close inspection” from teams in the 7-13 range in the lottery, Wojnarowski notes. The Bulls (No. 7), Knicks (No. 9), and Hornets (No. 11) all fall into that group, though it remains to be seen whether the Texas A&M center will also work out for other teams in that range, including the Cavaliers (No. 8), Sixers (No. 10), and Clippers (Nos. 12-13).
In his sophomore season with the Aggies, Williams often played out of position and recorded just 25.6 minutes per contest, but still nearly averaged a double-double (10.4 PPG, 9.2 RPG). He was also an efficient scorer (.632 FG%) who had a major impact on the defensive end (2.6 BPG).
Givony has Williams coming off the board at No. 14 in his most recent mock draft, calling the big man “a rim-running, pick-and-roll-finishing, shot-blocking, offensive rebounder” and likening him to Rockets center Clint Capela.
Potential lottery pick Kevin Knox worked out for the Magic today and confirmed that Orlando isn’t the only Eastern lottery team he’s auditioning for in the weeks leading up to the draft. According to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link), Knox worked out last week for the Cavaliers, and will visit the Knicks over the weekend. He’ll also earn a look from the Bulls next Tuesday.
The four teams working out Knox have picks ranging from Nos. 6 to 9, which is probably the high end of the former Kentucky Wildcat’s range. Knox ranks 15th on Jonathan Givony’s big board at ESPN.com, and while he has boosted his stock leading up to the draft, he isn’t a lock to be drafted in the lottery.
Knox could eventually add more workouts to his pre-draft schedule, but if he doesn’t, interested teams will get an opportunity to see him at his upcoming pro day, which is expected take place prior to his Knicks workout, per Robbins. The Hornets, who hold the No. 11 pick, are among the teams likely to attend that pro day, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
A 6’9″ forward, Knox enjoyed a productive 2017/18 season at Kentucky, averaging 15.6 PPG and 5.4 RPG. His efficiency was somewhat lacking (.445 FG%), but that can be attributed – at least in part – to playing out of position, as Givony notes.
Free agents and former Heat teammates Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers have been working out together in Miami, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel reports. They were Miami’s starting backcourt during its championship runs in 2012 and 2013. Wade finished last season with the Heat, while Chalmers played for the Grizzlies. They have been working out at DBC Fitness, a Miami gym run by David Alexander, one of LeBron James‘ trainers, Winderman notes.
In other news around the Southeast Division:
- New Magic coach Steve Clifford is bringing in two of his former Hornets assistants in Pat Delany and Steve Hetzel, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets. Both worked under Clifford the past four seasons. New Knicks coach David Fizdale was interested in bringing on Delany to his staff, Stein adds.
- Greg Foster will join the staff of new Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce, Marc Spears of ESPN tweets. Foster had been an assistant with the Bucks since 2014.
- Georgia forward Yante Maten is among the draft prospects the Hawks will work out on Tuesday, according to a team release. Elijah Stewart (USC), Isaiah Wilkins (Virginia), Melvin Frazier (Tulane), Elijah Brown (Oregon) and Trevon Bluiett (Xavier) are also scheduled to visit.