- The Hornets addressed a major need by drafting shooting guard Malik Monk but took a major gamble by acquiring center Dwight Howard, as Shaun Powell of NBA.com notes in his offseason outlook. Monk’s explosive scoring ability with Kentucky should translate to the NBA level, giving Charlotte another offensive dimension, Powell predicts. But acquiring Howard and his big contract from the Hawks was a head-scratcher, given that big men with limited offensive ability have become dinosaurs, Powell continues. However, Howard can still have a positive impact as a rebounder and rim protector and has little competition for the center spot, Powell adds.
- Former NBA head coach Eddie Jordan is close to joining the Hornets‘ staff, relays Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. The team is finalizing a contract for Jordan to replace Bob Weiss, who recently accepted a job as an assistant with the Nuggets. Jordan has a 257-343 record as coach of the Kings, Wizards and Sixers.
The Timberwolves haven’t made the postseason in 14 seasons. That could change this year, Shane Rhodes of Basketball Insiders writes, in a feature profiling five teams that could surprise in 2017/18. The Wolves have made no secret their desire to surround their promising young core with as many established veterans as possible and it’s likely to pay off in the form of a playoff appearance.
Another team Rhodes mentions is the Pelicans, who will break camp for the first time with both Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins on the roster. It’s not unreasonable, Rhodes suggests, to call Davis and Cousins the best players in the NBA at their respective positions.
Other teams that the scribe considers on the rise include the Lakers, Hornets and Pacers, the latter perhaps reeling from the loss of its superstar but still boasting plenty of versatile talent on the roster.
There’s more from around the basketball world:
- There are no shortage of past, present and future NBA players on EuroBasket 2017 rosters. Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype recently made a list of them all, broken down by nationality. (We see you, Anthony Randolph).
- The Australian National Basketball League isn’t a high profile international league like the Spanish ACB, Turkish BSL or Russian VTP leagues but it’s growing in popularity, Chris Reichert of 2 Ways, 10 Days writes.
- The only restricted free agent to accept a qualifying offer in the NBA this summer is Mavs center Nerlens Noel. In his latest feature, Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders breaks down the unique contract type, what it means for the players who sign them and what, typically, happens next.
- For those keeping track at home, the NBA has doled out over $2B less this summer than it did last summer. That’s a decrease of 42.6%, tweets Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal.
After a disappointing 2016/17 campaign, the Hornets have put themselves back in position to compete for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, Dennis Chambers of Basketball Insiders writes.
The addition of Dwight Howard will give the Hornets an inside presence that they lacked during their down year last season. The big man’s connection to head coach Steve Clifford – who served as an assistant coach with both the Lakers and Magic during Howard’s time there – will bode well as they settle into a new routine in Charlotte.
While Howard’s value as an elite rebounder is undisputed, the fact that the Hornets could possibly utilize Howard’s offensive skills more than his last few employers have is intriguing.
“He understands that I know him,” Clifford said of the new Hornets center. “I know his game. Being around him in different settings I have a feel for what he likes to do… There is no reason he can’t get back to playing at a really high level.”
Chambers also cites the addition of Malik Monk, a guard that can help shoulder the scoring load, as one of the major improvements that the Hornets will enjoy in 2017/18.
- There’s a palpable buzz surrounding the Hornets after a down year last season. Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer recently broke down the club’s new-look depth chart in detail.
When top college prospects like Markelle Fultz or Lonzo Ball are drafted, there’s virtually no doubt that their next step will involve signing an NBA contract. However, that’s not the case for every player who is selected in the NBA draft, particularly for international prospects and second-round picks.
When an NBA team uses a draft pick on a player, it gains his NBA rights, but that doesn’t mean the player will sign an NBA contract right away. International prospects will often remain with their professional team overseas for at least one more year to develop their game further, becoming “draft-and-stash” prospects. Nikola Mirotic, Dario Saric, and Bogdan Bogdanovic are among the more notable players to fit this bill in recent years.
However, draft-and-stash players can be former NCAA standouts too. Sometimes a college prospect selected with a late second round pick will end up playing overseas or in the G League for a year or two if there’s no space available on his NBA team’s 15-man roster.
While these players sometimes make their way to their NBA teams, others never do. Many clubs around the NBA currently hold the rights to international players who have remained overseas for their entire professional careers and are no longer viewed as top prospects. Those players may never come stateside, but there’s often no reason for NBA teams to renounce their rights — those rights can sometimes be used as placeholders in trades.
For instance, earlier this summer, the Pacers and Raptors agreed to a trade that sent Cory Joseph to Indiana. Toronto was happy to move Joseph’s salary and didn’t necessarily need anything in return, but the Pacers had to send something in the deal. Rather than including an NBA player or a draft pick, Indiana sent Toronto the draft rights to Emir Preldzic, the 57th overall pick in the 2009 draft.
Preldzic is currently playing for Galatasaray in Turkey, and at this point appears unlikely to ever come to the NBA, but his draft rights have been a useful trade chip over the years — the Pacers/Raptors swap represented the fourth time since 2010 that Preldzic’s NBA rights have been included in a trade.
This week, we’re taking a closer look at the players whose draft rights NBA teams currently hold, sorting them by division. These players may eventually arrive in America and join their respective NBA teams, but many will end up like Preldzic, plying their trade overseas and having their draft rights used as pawns in NBA trades.
Here’s a breakdown of the draft rights held by Southeast teams:
Atlanta Hawks
- Augusto Binelli, C (1986; No. 40): Retired.
- Alain Digbeu, F (1997; No. 49): Retired.
- Marcus Eriksson, G/F (2015; No. 50): Playing in Spain.
- Isaia Cordinier, G (2016; No. 44): Playing in France.
- Alpha Kaba, C (2017; No. 60): Playing in France.
Charlotte Hornets
- None
Miami Heat
- George Banks, F (1995; No. 46): Retired.
- Robert Duenas, C (1997; No. 57): Retired.
Orlando Magic
- Rashard Griffith, C (1995; No. 38): Retired.
- Remon van de Hare, C (2003; No. 52): Retired.
- Fran Vazquez, C (2005; No. 11): Playing in Spain.
- Janis Timma, F (2013; No. 60): Playing in Spain.
- Tyler Harvey, G (2015; No. 51): Playing in France.
Washington Wizards
- Aaron White, F (2015; No. 49): Playing in Lithuania.
Previously:
Information from Mark Porcaro and Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.
While the Hornets have an open roster spot, it’s unlikely they’ll use it to add a significant player due to the team’s salary cap situation, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer explains. The franchise has slightly over $117.4MM in salary on the books against a luxury tax threshold of approximately $119.3MM and for a team that doesn’t expect to contend for a championship, remaining below the threshold is the wisest move.
Charlotte has the ability to offer a free agent a salary above the minimum, as it still wields its bi-annual exception, which is worth $3.29MM. However, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors previously speculated, it’s unlikely that the Hornets use this vehicle given their proximity to the luxury tax apron.
Here’s more from Charlotte:
- Defense could be a major issue for Malik Monk, Bonnell contends in the same piece. Monk, whom the Hornets selected with the No. 11 overall pick, is expected to see an immediate role in Charlotte’s rotation this season.
- The five spot is the Hornets‘ greatest position of strength, Bonnell writes in the same piece. Charlotte added Dwight Howard this offseason to bolster a unit that includes Cody Zeller and Frank Kaminsky.
- If Howard can come close to matching his production in previous seasons, the Hornets should be able to reach the postseason again after missing the NBA’s second season last year, Tom Sorensen of the Charlotte Observer argues. The team only had to give up Miles Plumlee and Marco Belinelli this summer to acquire Howard and Sorensen adds that the former No. 1 overall pick should feel insulted by the deal, as the perception is that the Hornets didn’t give up much value to bring him in.
The G League held its expansion draft to accommodate for the association’s four new franchises and Chris Reichert of 2 Ways, 10 Days has broken down the results, recapping the nuances of the developmental league’s various processes.
As Reichert lays out, teams made their bids for each player’s returning rights for a period of two seasons. What that means is that the G League clubs will effectively reserve those players should they ever find themselves back in the league. Many currently ply their trade either for NBA squads or for teams overseas.
The current NBA crop selected in the G League expansion draft is headlined by Sean Kilpatrick and Okaro White. The big league rotation players, however, are unlikely to return to the G League, at least in 2017/18, rendering them ineffective selections.
There’s more from around the NBA:
- Speaking of G League peculiarities, the Oklahoma City Blue (the G League affiliate of the Thunder) made a trade with the SLC Stars (Jazz affiliate) for the rights to Marcus Paige but, as Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer explains, Paige will actually suit up for the Greensboro Swarm (Hornets affiliate). Earlier this month the Hornets signed Paige to a two-way deal and that supersedes whichever team owns his G League rights.
- With one more year left on his suspension, former Bucks guard O.J. Mayo could consider a gig in the G League, Adam Johnson of 2 Ways, 10 Days opines. There is, however, no guarantee that he would be permitted to do so.
- It’s been a decade since he coached the Rockets, which makes Jeff Van Gundy‘s return to the bench with Team USA all that much more exciting. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN recently spoke with Van Gundy about his role with the USA Basketball World Cup qualifying team.
- New Hornets guard Julyan Stone has an agreement not to discuss the details of his release from his Italian team, writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Umana Reyer in Venice agreed to let Stone out of his contract so he could return to the United States to be closer to his ailing father.
AUGUST 24, 8:23am: RealGM’s official transactions log classifies Stone’s new contract as a multiyear agreement, so it appears the Hornets were able to complete a two-year deal as initially planned.
AUGUST 23, 10:17am: The Hornets have officially signed veteran guard Julyan Stone, the team announced today in a press release. The deal had been in the works for some time, as Stone worked to free himself from a commitment to Italian team Umana Reyer Venezia and receive FIBA clearance to return to the NBA.
Stone, who was in camp with the Pacers in 2016, hasn’t appeared in a regular season NBA game since the 2013/14 campaign. For his career, he appeared in 47 total contests for the Nuggets and Raptors, playing limited minutes in those games. In recent years, Stone bounced around to various teams overseas and in the G League, spending time in Italy, Turkey, and with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Indiana’s G League affiliate.
Stone recently agreed to a two-year extension with defending league champion Umana Reyer, based in Venice. The 28-year-old didn’t have an opt-out clause to leave for the NBA, but asked the team to release him from his deal so he could be closer to his father, who is in a coronary care unit in the United States with severe lung, heart and kidney conditions. The club obliged earlier this month.
While Stone is now a Hornet, we’ll wait to confirm the terms of his deal. Previous reports indicated that Charlotte made a two-year offer to Stone, but one report last week suggested that his Italian team may have only released him from his contract for a single year, which would limit the Hornets’ ability to lock him up for multiple seasons.
The 6’6″ Stone is expected to serve as the Hornets’ third point guard behind Kemba Walker and Michael Carter-Williams.
For the last decade, NBA.com’s John Schuhmann has been surveying several incoming rookies to get their thoughts on their fellow first-year players. Schuhmann asks the newest NBA players to identify which rookie they expect to have the best career, which was the steal of the 2017 draft, and which is the frontrunner for the 2017/18 Rookie of the Year award, among other questions.
This year, Schuhmann polled 39 rookies, and more than a quarter of those players made Mavericks point guard Dennis Smith Jr. their pick for Rookie of the Year favorite. The No. 9 overall pick received 25.7% of the vote, beating out top picks like Lonzo Ball (20%) and Markelle Fultz (17.1%). That may be good news for the Mavs, though as Schuhmann observes, the rookies he has surveyed haven’t accurately predicted the Rookie of the Year winner since 2007/08, when they made Kevin Durant the overwhelming favorite.
Here are a few more items of interest from Schuhmann’s survey:
- Smith was the landslide winner (43.6%) as the most athletic rookie. But while his fellow rookies believe the Mavericks point guard will have the best first year, Ball and Celtics forward Jayson Tatum received the most votes (18.4% apiece) for which rookie will have the best overall career.
- Donovan Mitchell (18.9%) was the top choice for biggest steal of the draft, after the Jazz nabbed him at No. 13. Some of the second-round picks that the rookies viewed as steals included Jordan Bell (Warriors; No. 38) and Dwayne Bacon (Hornets; No. 40).
- Luke Kennard (Pistons) and Malik Monk (Hornets) were widely considered the top two outside shooters in the draft. Among their fellow rookies, Kennard (48.6%) easily topped Monk (13.5%) as the pick for the No. 1 shooter of the 2017 class.
- Suns forward Josh Jackson (26.3%) was narrowly voted the best rookie defender, while Ball (71.8%) was the overwhelming pick for best rookie playmaker.