Charlotte Hornets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Jeremy Lin Opts Out Of Contract

June 22nd, 2016 at 11:17pm CST by Luke Adams

JUNE 22: Lin, whose decision was due on Wednesday, has officially turned down his player option and will hit the open market in July, tweets ESPN’s Marc Stein.

JUNE 7: Jeremy Lin will opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, reports Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com (Twitter links). According to Haynes, the Hornets will make an effort to re-sign Lin, but the point guard figures to have plenty of suitors.

Lin, 27, signed a modest two-year contract last summer with Charlotte — that deal paid him $2.139MM in 2015/16, and featured a $2.235MM player option for 2016/17, which was always considered unlikely to be exercised unless Lin suffered a major injury or saw his performance fall off a cliff.

In his first – and possible only – season with the Hornets, Lin averaged 11.7 points per game, right in line with his career average. Lin’s .412 FG% and 3.0 assists per game were the worst full-season marks of his NBA career, but he was still a capable backup to Kemba Walker at the point.

Lin’s option decision deadline is on June 22, so he won’t officially be on track for free agency until that date passes. At that point, Lin will remain on Charlotte’s books with a cap hold worth about $2.567MM. The Hornets only hold his Non-Bird rights, so the team won’t be able to exceed the cap significantly to sign him. Still, with only about $46MM in guaranteed salary on their books for now, the Hornets should be able to find room for Lin if they make him a priority.

Hornets May Be Targeting Wing At No. 22

June 21st, 2016 at 12:51pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hornets will likely select a wing player with the No. 22 pick in the draft, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer speculates. Florida State shooting guard Malik Beasley, Michigan State swingman Denzel Valentine, Virginia shooting guard Malcolm Brogdon, St. Joseph’s small forward DeAndre’ Bembry and Vanderbilt center Damian Jones are five players who might be on the board and fill a need for the club, according to Bonnell. Small forward Nicolas Batum and shooting guard Courtney Lee will be unrestricted free agents next month.

Hornets Hope To Move Up In Draft

June 19th, 2016 at 9:04am CST by Arthur Hill

The Hornets are also making an effort to improve their draft position, tweets Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune. Charlotte has the 22nd pick.

Unsigned Draft Picks: Southeast Division

June 18th, 2016 at 3:52pm CST by Eddie Scarito

As the 2016 NBA draft rapidly approaches the term draft-and-stash will be mentioned quite often in regard to international players and late second-rounders. While some of these athletes will eventually sign with an NBA team, it seems like the majority of them stay overseas and never make it to the league. Those players in the latter category aren’t without value as they become trade assets for the teams holding their rights.

While many players fail to work out the way teams expect them to, they can at least become tradeable assets for teams that don’t want to part with a future second-round pick in a deal. Each team must give up something in a trade, which is why many swaps include top-55 protected second-round picks. Older draft rights held players who clearly will never come over to the NBA are essentially the same as flipping those heavily protected second-rounders, for all intents and purposes.

Listed below are the current unsigned draftees for the teams of the Southeast Division:

Atlanta Hawks

Dimitrios Agravanis — Selected No. 59 overall in 2015.
Augusto Binelli — Selected No. 40 overall in 1986.
Alain Digbeu — Selected No. 49 overall in 1997.
Marcus Eriksson — Selected No. 50 overall in 2015.
Sergey Gladyr — Selected No. 49 overall in 2009.

Charlotte Hornets

None

Miami Heat

Roberto Duenas — Selected No. 58 overall in 1997.
George Banks — Selected No. 46 overall in 1995.

Orlando Magic

Fran Vazquez — Selected No. 11 overall in 2005.
Tyler Harvey — Selected No. 51 overall in 2015.
Janis Timma — Selected No. 60 overall in 2013.
Ramon Van De Hare — Selected No. 52 overall in 2003.
Rashard Griffith — Selected No. 38 overall in 1995.

Washington Wizards

Aaron White — Selected No. 49 overall in 2015.
Tomas Satoransky — Selected No. 32 overall in 2012.

Rich Cho Talks Draft Strategy, Batum

June 18th, 2016 at 1:11pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Hornets GM Rich Cho, speaking at a pre-draft press conference on Friday, told reporters that the team is likely to draft the best available player and would not target a specific need given the large amount of the roster set to hit free agency, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes. “With eight free agents, I don’t know what’s going to happen, so we’re just trying to get more depth,” Cho said. “[Need] is a hard question to answer because we have so many free agents and don’t know how it’s going to play out.” The executive also reiterated that the team’s top offseason priority is re-signing unrestricted free agent swingman Nicolas Batum, Bonnell adds. “We hope to meet with him as soon as free agency starts,” Cho said of Batum. “Our goal is to get something done with him.”

The Hornets held a workout earlier this week that included Marshall Plumlee (Duke), Matt Costello (Michigan State), Frank Eaves (Appalachian State), Angel Rodriguez (Miami) and Wayne Selden (Kansas), Bonnell relays in a separate piece.

Latest Draft News

June 17th, 2016 at 12:29pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Former North Carolina point guard Marcus Paige worked out for the Hawks on Thursday and will do the same for the Hornets today, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution relays (via Twitter).
Hornets GM Rich Cho, speaking at a press conference today, noted that the team believes it can land an impact player with the No. 22 overall pick, but didn’t rule out making an attempt to move up in the draft, Charlotte relayed in a series of tweets. “We feel like it’s a deep draft and we’ll get a good player at pick 22. At the same time we’re looking at our options,” Cho said. “With 8 free agents, I don’t know what’s going to happen. We’re trying to get more depth with our team and get guys that can play in our rotation. At this point in the process, we’ve already done all our work. Scouted tons of games and did all background work and intel. We’ll be ready.“

Hornets Pre-Draft Workouts

June 15th, 2016 at 8:13pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Hornets have workouts set for Thursday with Isaiah Cousins (Oklahoma), Anthony Gill (Virginia), A.J. Hammons (Purdue), Codi Miller-McIntyre (Wake Forest), Chinanu Onuaku (Louisville) and Kyle Wiltjer (Gonzaga), the team announced.

Poll: 2016 Community Mock Draft (Pick No. 22)

June 15th, 2016 at 4:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The results of the 2016 NBA Draft lottery are in and the Sixers finally landed the elusive No. 1 overall pick after missing out the past two seasons. Now that the exact draft order is locked in, teams can begin targeting specific players who are likely to still be on the board when it is their time to choose. Drafting players is far from an exact science, and many a GM has been second-guessed for his draft night decisions. I’m willing to bet that every team executive has at least one pick that he would like a mulligan for. We at Hoops Rumors thought it would be fun to give our readers the chance to predict the results of this June’s draft, which is what we are doing with a series of polls.

We are now two-thirds of the way through the first round and have come to the Hornets. Readers, you are now on the clock! Cast your vote for Charlotte’s pick and check back Thursday for the results, as well as to cast your vote for who the Celtics will select with the No. 23 overall pick. But don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the No. 22 overall pick and why you voted the way that you did.

Previous Selections

Sixers — Ben Simmons (LSU)
Lakers — Brandon Ingram (Duke)
Celtics — Dragan Bender (Maccabi Tel Aviv)
Suns — Jaylen Brown (California)
Timberwolves — Buddy Hield (Oklahoma)
Pelicans — Kris Dunn (Providence)
Nuggets — Jamal Murray (Kentucky)
Kings — Henry Ellenson (Marquette)
Raptors — Marquese Chriss (Washington)
Bucks — Jakob Poeltl (Utah)
Magic — Skal Labissiere (Kentucky)
Jazz — Denzel Valentine (Michigan State)
Suns — Domantas Sabonis (Gonzaga)
Bulls — Deyonta Davis (Michigan State)
Nuggets — Timothe Luwawu (Mega Leks)
Celtics — Thon Maker (Australia)
Grizzlies — Wade Baldwin (Vanderbilt)
Pistons — Tyler Ulis (Kentucky)
Nuggets — Furkan Korkmaz (Anadolu Efes)
Pacers — Demetrius Jackson (Notre Dame)
Hawks — Taurean Prince (Baylor)

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Kidd-Gilchrist Vows To Be Ready For Next Season

June 11th, 2016 at 4:07pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Hornets‘ Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is focused on training camp after twice tearing the labrum in his right shoulder and missing nearly all of the 2015/16 season, writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Kidd-Gilchrist, who was limited to seven games during the year, was recently cleared for on-court activities and vows to be healthy when training camp begins. “I’m shooting, I’m lifting, I’m running,” he said. “I’ll be ready for next season.” The Hornets have him under contract for four more years.

Latest Draft News

June 10th, 2016 at 7:32pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Former NC State point guard Cat Barber would love to remain in the state of North Carolina and hopes the Hornets select him in this year’s NBA Draft, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer relays. “I know it a lot [about them]. I came to the last regular-season game,” Barber said. “I’d love to come in and play behind Kemba Walker.” Barber, 21, is a projected second-rounder, coming in at No. 55 overall according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. The point guard’s agent has told Barber he could go as high as No. 20 overall, Bonnell adds. Charlotte owns the 22nd pick, though there is no indication that the Hornets are currently considering selecting Barber at that slot.