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Latest On Jeremy Lin, Hornets

June 27th, 2016 at 11:21am CST by Luke Adams

After opting out of his contract with the Hornets, Jeremy Lin is set to hit the open market in July, and Charlotte doesn’t sound overly optimistic about retaining him. According to ESPN’s Chris Broussard, the Hornets’ top priority is re-signing Nicolas Batum, and the team would also like to bring back Marvin Williams, who is a strong presence in the locker room. That may not leave much flexibility to re-sign Lin, especially since Charlotte doesn’t hold his Bird Rights.

Lin, who turns 28 in August, has played for five different teams over the course of his six-year NBA career, so while he’d like to find a team that will give him the opportunity to start, he’s also prioritizing finding a long-term home, as he nears free agency. “I’m tired of boxes, I’m tired of moving companies, and I want to find a home,” Lin said over the weekend in an interview with the World Economic Forum, per Ian Begley of ESPN.com.

Lin also said during that interview that he intends to “exhaust every opportunity” in search of the best fit, and Broussard hears that the veteran point guard will meet with three teams when the free agent recruiting period begins on July 1st. The identities of those suitors aren’t yet known.

While Lin is keeping his options open, a return to New York to rejoin the Knicks may not be in the cards. As Begley details, Lin didn’t rule out the possibility of a reunion with the Knicks, but also expressed some skepticism about the fit.

“It’s not looking likely, because they just traded for Derrick Rose,” Lin said. “But I will say that ever since I left, I’ve always been open to going back and I still am. Never say never, that’s the one thing in the NBA, never say never. So I’ve always been open, but right now, I’m not sure if it’s the best timing. But if it happens, it happens.”

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, and upped his game when given the opportunity to start (17.5 PPG, 4.8 APG, .461 FG% in 13 contests).

Batum Most Likely Free Agent To Stay In Charlotte

June 26th, 2016 at 6:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Of the Hornets‘ five free agents, Nicolas Batum is most likely to return next season, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Bonnell sees a 70% likelihood that Batum remains with in Charlotte, and GM Rich Cho has said keeping him is the team’s top offseason priority. Bonnell believs the Hornets will need to offer a five-year deal at more than $20MM per season to be sure of re-signing Batum. For the rest of the team’s free agents, Bonnell puts the chances of keeping Marvin Williams at 50%, Jeremy Lin at 40%, Al Jefferson at 25% and Courtney Lee at 20%.

Hornets Looking To Trade Hawes, Lamb

June 23rd, 2016 at 8:36am CST by Eddie Scarito

The 2016 NBA Draft is mere hours away and trade chatter is likely to ramp up significantly as the event nears. Here’s the latest rumors and notes from around the league:

A number of teams have ruled out selecting Thon Maker in the first round over concerns that his age has been misrepresented, Jake Fischer of Liberty Ballers tweets. Multiple league sources tell Fischer they believe Maker to be 21-23 years of age, while he is officially listed as being just 19-years-old.
The Hornets are offering the No. 22 overall pick as a sweetener if teams will take the contracts of Spencer Hawes or Jeremy Lamb off their hands via trade, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical relays (via Twitter). Charlotte wants to clear cap room to aid it in pursuing free agents this offseason, Wojnarowski adds.
Several Western Conference teams have been aggressively pursuing Nets forward Thaddeus Young, who Brooklyn is looking to deal to the highest bidder in an effort to land a first round pick, Wojnarowski tweets.
Teams picking after the Grizzlies, who own the No. 17 overall pick, believe Memphis is split between selecting Malachi Richardson and Malik Beasley, Fischer tweets.
The Hawks have contacted teams drafting in the late teens of the first round offering to trade back from No. 12 overall in exchange for an established rotation player, Fischer relays (on Twitter).
The Clippers have made calls to teams owning first-rounders in the mid to late teens and are offering up the No. 25 and No. 33 overall picks in return, Fischer tweets.

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.