Charlotte Hornets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Hornets Sign Christian Wood

July 14th, 2016 at 2:27pm CST by Eddie Scarito

JULY 14, 2:27pm: The Hornets have officially signed Wood, the team confirmed today in a press release.

JULY 13, 9:15pm: The Hornets have agreed to a multiyear deal with forward Christian Wood, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (Twitter links). It will be a two-year pact, with the second year a team option, Charania adds. The dollar amount of the arrangement was not relayed.

Wood previously spent regular season time in the NBA with the Sixers, having inked four deals over the past 10 months with the franchise. The Sixers initially signed him last September to a four-year deal with a $50K partial guarantee, but despite winning a spot on the opening night roster, Philly waived him in January to make way for Elton Brand as team executive Jerry Colangelo brought with him an emphasis on veterans. Wood rejoined the team on a 10-day deal after the Sixers opened a roster spot through the JaKarr Sampson snafu, but the Sixers terminated that 10-day contract early so they could claim Sonny Weems off waivers. Philly later backtracked on that decision, releasing Weems and signing Wood to another 10-day pact which led to him remaining with the team the remainder of the season.

The 20-year-old has 17 NBA regular season appearances under his belt, notching averages of 3.6 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.4 blocks in 8.5 minutes per outing. His shooting numbers are .415/.364/.619.

Grizzlies Acquire Troy Daniels

July 12th, 2016 at 4:06pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 12TH, 4:06pm: The deal is official, the Grizzlies announced via press release. Daniels was acquired for an undisclosed amount of cash, per the announcement.

JULY 9TH, 6:50pm: The Grizzlies are finalizing a three-year, $10MM deal with free agent shooting guard Troy Daniels, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Daniels will join Memphis in a sign-and-trade with the Hornets (Twitter link).

Daniels appeared in 43 games with Charlotte this season, averaging 5.6 points in a little over 11 minutes of playing time. The 24-year-old 3-point specialist connected on 48% of his shots from beyond the arc.

By sending Daniels to Memphis via trade, the Hornets will create a trade exception worth half of his salary in the first season of the new deal, tweets The Vertical’s Bobby Marks. That exception will be $1.6MM, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link). The Grizzlies will be Daniels’ fourth NBA team in his three-year career.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Marvin Williams Was "Highly Predisposed" To Re-Sign With Hornets

July 12th, 2016 at 12:49pm CST by Luke Adams

Heading into free agency, Marvin Williams told his agent that he was comfortable in Charlotte, and that if the Hornets made a competitive offer, he was “highly predisposed to re-sign,” writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Williams ultimately struck a four-year, $54.5MM deal with the team.

Sessions Contract Details Revealed

July 10th, 2016 at 1:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

The two-year contract that Ramon Sessions signed with the Hornets will pay him $6MM in the first season with a $6.3MM team option for the second, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.

Hornets Re-Sign Marvin Williams

July 10th, 2016 at 11:30am CST by Eddie Scarito

JULY 10, 11:30am: The signing is official, the team announced.

Jeremy Brevard/USA TODAY Sports Images

JULY 2, 4:52pm: The final season is a player option, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reports (Twitter link).

4:38pm: The Hornets and Marvin Williams have struck a deal that will see the forward remain in Charlotte, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (via Twitter). It will be a four-year, $54.5MM arrangement, Wojnarowski adds. He joins small forward Nicolas Batum in re-signing with Michael Jordan’s club this offseason.

The 30-year-old former second round pick out of North Carolina wasn’t without alternatives to the Hornets, with Williams turning down offers in the $15MM per year range in order to remain with the team, Wojnarowski tweets. The Nets were reportedly one of the teams in pursuit of Williams, though it is unknown if the team was among those mentioned offering in excess of $15MM per. Brooklyn moved on and inked Trevor Booker to a two-year, $8MM pact once they received word that Williams was leaning toward returning to Charlotte.

Williams had a productive 2015/16 campaign, averaging 11.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 28.9 minutes per outing. His shooting numbers on the year were .452/.402/.833.

Nets Ink Trevor Booker

July 8th, 2016 at 4:27pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Russ Isabella/USA TODAY Sports Images

JULY 8th, 4:27pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.

3:24pm: Booker’s deal is for two years and $18MM, per Jones (on Twitter).

JULY 2nd, 3:01pm: The Nets and unrestricted free agent Trevor Booker have reached an agreement on a contract, Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune reports (via Twitter). The length and terms of the arrangement are not yet known. Brooklyn apparently pivoted to Booker when negotiations with Marvin Williams fell through, with Williams looking more and more like he will be making his return to the Hornets next season, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter link).

Brooklyn continues to add veteran pieces and Booker will join Jeremy Lin and Justin Hamilton, whom GM Sean Marks previously came to agreements with, on a revamped Nets squad. Booker was reportedly drawing interest from multiple unnamed teams.

Booker, 28, appeared in 79 games for the Jazz last season and averaged 5.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 20.7 minutes per outing. His slash line was .490/.293/.670.

Cho: Hornets Tried To Land Belinelli In 2015

July 7th, 2016 at 3:17pm CST by Luke Adams

Hornets general manager Rich Cho confirmed that his team, which officially acquired Marco Belinelli in a trade today, tried to sign the Italian sharpshooter in free agency a year ago (Twitter link via Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer).

Free Agent Notes: Timberwolves, Wizards, Randolph

July 7th, 2016 at 1:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Timberwolves offered veteran small forward Luol Deng a three-year contract at $12MM per season, according to Darren Wolfson of KSTP Radio (Twitter link). Head coach and president of basketball operations Tim Thobideau refused to fully guarantee the third year, Wolfson adds. In the end, the Timberwolves didn’t come close to signing Deng, as the former Heat starter agreed to a four-year, $72MM contract with the Lakers.

In other news regarding free agency:

The Wizards have interest in re-signing shooting guard Alan Anderson and will meet with him this weekend, league sources told J. Michael of CSNmidlatlantic.com (Twitter links). The meeting is expected to take place in Las Vegas, Michael adds. Anderson, who made $4MM last season, appeared in just 13 games with the Wizards after undergoing a second surgery on his left ankle. The previous season, he played in 74 games with the Nets and averaged 7.4 points in 23.6 minutes.
Shooting guard Brandon Paul is drawing major interest around the league after some strong performances for the Hornets’ summer-league team, Sportando tweets. He’s averaging 15.3 points and 7.3 rebounds through four games in the Orlando Summer League. The 6’4” Paul went undrafted in 2013 out of the University of Illinois and has been playing for a Spanish league team, FIATC Joventut.
Forward Anthony Randolph will remain in Europe and sign a one-year deal with Spain’s Real Madrid, a source told Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Randolph received interest from the Mavericks this summer, Spears adds. The contract will be the $1.5MM-$2MM range, international journalist David Pick tweets. The 6’11” Randolph hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2013/14 season, when he appeared in 43 games with the Nuggets.
Power forward Willie Reed has drawn interest from the Warriors, Spurs, Heat, Thunder, Timberwolves and Pacers, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets. Reed, an unrestricted free agent, averaged 4.7 points and 3.1 rebounds in 10.9 minutes over 39 games with the Nets last season.
Free agent center Robert Sacre, who played the last four seasons with the Lakers, has drawn interest from the Timberwolves and Rockets, Wolfson reports in a separate tweet.

Hornets Re-Sign Nicolas Batum

July 7th, 2016 at 11:35am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 7: The Hornets have officially announced their new deal with Batum.

JULY 1: The Hornets have struck a deal with Nicolas Batum, and will bring the veteran forward back on a long-term contract, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter links). Charania reports that Batum and the Hornets have agreed to a five-year, $120MM deal, which will include a player option on the final season.

Batum, 27, would have been eligible for a maximum-salary contract worth in excess of $150MM, so it seems he was willing to settle for significantly less than that to remain in Charlotte, despite the fact that we heard earlier in the night that he was seeking a max deal.

The longtime Trail Blazer was traded from Portland to Charlotte last June, and had a nice bounce-back season in his first year with the Hornets, averaging a career-high 14.9 points per game, to go with 6.1 RPG, 5.8 APG, and 2.0 three-pointers per game.

Prior to reaching an agreement with the Hornets, Batum had scheduled a face-to-face meeting with the Mavericks in Dallas and planned to the Knicks, Lakers and Wizards via phone. It’s not clear whether or not all of those conversations took place. The Lakers reportedly had Batum at or near the top of their free agent wish list.

We ranked Batum eighth on our list of this year’s top 50 free agents, suggesting that he was one of the best – and most versatile – wings available. Teams that missed on Batum may shift their focus to players like Kent Bazemore and Marvin Williams instead.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Hornets Acquire Marco Belinelli From Kings

July 7th, 2016 at 9:43am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 7: The Hornets have formally confirmed in a press release that they’ve acquired Belinelli from the Kings in exchange for the rights to Malachi Richardson, the No. 22 overall pick in this year’s draft.

JUNE 23: The Hornets and Kings have agreed to a trade that will send the No. 22 overall pick to Sacramento in exchange for veteran shooting guard Marco Belinelli, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter links). The deal that will make Belinelli a Hornet can’t be processed until July, but Charlotte will be selecting a player for the Kings at No. 22 tonight.

The deal comes as a bit of a surprise, since Belinelli hasn’t exactly been at his best during the last two seasons in Sacramento. In 2015/16, he scored in double digits for the team, but shot just .386 from the field and .306 from three-point range. Both marks were the worst of his nine-year NBA career.

Still, the Hornets are apparently confident that Belinelli, a 37.9% career three-point shooter, can bounce back and give them more positive value than the No. 22 overall pick could have. The 30-year-old is under contract for two more seasons, with a salary of $6.33MM in 2016/17 and $6.606 the following year. If he comes back strong next year, that’s not a bad price for a bench scorer and outside shooter.

The Hornets only currently have $46MM in guaranteed salary on the books for next season, so they should have plenty of room to absorb Belinelli’s salary under the cap in July. The move also gives the team some insurance in case Courtney Lee signs elsewhere as a free agent.

As for the Kings, they’ll clear a little salary and are now armed with two first-round picks. We heard earlier this evening that Sacramento is exploring deals involving the No. 8 pick. Acquiring a second first-rounder could give the club a little more ammunition to attempt to move up, and would still allow the team to add a first-round rookie tonight if it decides to move that No. 8 pick for future selections.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.