Charlotte Hornets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Scotto’s Latest: Bufkin, Wizards, Payton, Las Vegas

September 13th, 2023 at 9:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Hawks tried to trade for Raptors forward Pascal Siakam this summer, but they weren’t willing to part with first-round pick Kobe Bufkin, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Atlanta’s offers focused on De’Andre Hunter, AJ Griffin and draft picks, but Bufkin wasn’t included, sources tell Scotto.

Toronto considered selecting Bufkin with the 13th pick before opting for Gradey Dick, Scotto adds. He also hears that Hawks coach Quin Snyder is a huge proponent of Bufkin, who is coming off an impressive sophomore season at Michigan.

Scotto notes that Atlanta’s options will expand when Bogdan Bogdanovic becomes trade-eligible on Saturday. The veteran swingman, who was named to the All-Star 5 at the World Cup, is under contract for $68MM over the next four years, including a $16MM team option for 2026/27.

Scotto offers more inside information from around the league:

The Wizards aren’t looking to make a move right away, but they expect to get trade offers for Danilo Gallinari, Landry Shamet and Delon Wright. Scotto points out that Gallinari at $6.8MM and Wright at $8.2MM both have expiring contracts. Shamet is signed for three more years, but his only guaranteed money is $10.25MM for 2023/24. Sources tell Scotto that Gallinari hasn’t engaged in buyout talks with the Wizards and is focused on making a comeback after missing all of last season with a torn ACL. The Hornets considered making a trade offer for Wright before targeting Frank Ntilikina instead, Scotto adds, and league executives told him that Washington could probably get a second-round pick or two in exchange for the veteran guard.
Elfrid Payton recently had workouts with the Timberwolves and Hornets, sources told Scotto. Payton spent part of last season in the G League, then signed to play in Puerto Rico in late March. He hasn’t been in the NBA since playing 50 games with the Suns during the 2021/22 season.
When Las Vegas hosts the semifinals and finals of the in-season tournament in December, the response could go a long way toward securing an expansion team for the city, multiple executives told Scotto. The NBA has been expanding its presence in Las Vegas in recent years with the annual Summer League and the G League Showcase. Seattle and Las Vegas are widely considered the leading contenders for the next round of expansion.

The NBA Teams Best Positioned To Make Waiver Claims

September 12th, 2023 at 8:08am CST by Luke Adams

In order to claim a player off waivers, an NBA team must be able to fit the player’s current-year salary into either cap room, a traded player exception, or – if the player is in the final year of his contract – a disabled player exception.

This rule doesn’t apply if the waived player is on a one- or two-year minimum-salary contract. In that case, any team can claim him using the minimum salary exception.

Waiver claims aren’t particularly common in the NBA, and claims involving players earning more than the minimum salary are even less frequent. Still, it’s worth knowing which teams have the most flexibility to make waiver claims in case an intriguing player on a reasonable contract hits the wire.

On Monday, for instance, the Spurs waived veteran point guard Cameron Payne, who is on an expiring $6.5MM deal. Payne has played well in Phoenix over the last four seasons, averaging 9.8 points and 4.2 assists in 20.2 minutes per game across 174 appearances, with a .434/.384/.833 shooting line. That’s pretty solid production for the price.

In all likelihood, Payne will pass through waivers unclaimed and sign for less than $6.5MM with a new team, but there will be teams around the NBA that at least consider making a claim. The Grizzlies should be one of them, in the view of John Hollinger of The Athletic (Twitter link), who notes that Memphis could use another point guard and has a trade exception large enough for the team to take on Payne’s salary without getting too close to the tax line.

Memphis is one of nine teams with the ability to claim Payne off waivers. Here’s the full list, along with the value of their biggest trade exception (unless otherwise noted):

Atlanta Hawks: $23,019,560
Brooklyn Nets: $19,928,571
Washington Wizards: $12,354,400
Chicago Bulls: $10,232,559
- Note: This is the amount of the Bulls’ disabled player exception, not a trade exception, so the team could only use it to claim a player on an expiring contract.
Miami Heat: $9,450,000
Portland Trail Blazers: $8,300,000
Indiana Pacers: $7,493,593
- Note: This is the maximum amount of cap room the Pacers could create by renouncing the cap holds for their remaining free agents.
Memphis Grizzlies: $7,492,540
New York Knicks: $6,803,012

Many of these teams wouldn’t have interest in a point guard like Payne and wouldn’t necessarily be in position to add another $6.5MM in salary to their books. Claiming Payne would put the Bulls into luxury tax territory, for instance. These are simply the clubs capable of placing a claim if they so choose.

A total of 10 other teams have the ability to claim non-minimum players off waivers, but wouldn’t be able to take on Payne specifically:

Phoenix Suns: $6,500,000
- Note: The Suns’ trade exception is technically large enough to take on Payne, but they’re ineligible to claim him after trading him to San Antonio.
Boston Celtics: $6,202,500
Orlando Magic: $5,056,771
- Note: This is the maximum amount of cap room the Magic could create by renouncing the cap holds for their remaining free agents.
Dallas Mavericks: $4,953,980
Minnesota Timberwolves: $3,688,117
Los Angeles Lakers: $2,700,000
Philadelphia 76ers: $2,448,846
Golden State Warriors: $2,337,720
Denver Nuggets: $2,201,520
Charlotte Hornets: $1,930,681

Even though the Hornets‘ largest trade exception is less than the minimum salary for a two-year veteran ($2,019,706), it could still come in handy for claiming certain younger players on non-minimum deals.

For example, if the Thunder – facing a roster crunch – were to waive Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, who is earning $1.9MM in the third year of a four-year contract, Charlotte would be able to claim him using its trade exception. A club with only the minimum salary exception available wouldn’t be in position to place a claim on Robinson-Earl.

Here are the 11 teams without a TPE, DPE, or cap room available to claim a player earning more than the minimum:

Cleveland Cavaliers
Detroit Pistons
Houston Rockets
Los Angeles Clippers
Milwaukee Bucks
New Orleans Pelicans
Oklahoma City Thunder
Toronto Raptors
Sacramento Kings
San Antonio Spurs
Utah Jazz

And-Ones: Parker, Team Assets, 2024 FAs, Pelicans, Hornets

September 8th, 2023 at 4:02pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

2014 lottery pick and veteran NBA forward Jabari Parker sat down for an extensive conversation with Julian Phillip of Mundo Deportivo about his new pro club, FC Barcelona. When asked if he felt that Barcelona could hold its own against teams in his former league, Parker was effusive in his praise.

“Definitely,” Parker said. “Because we have, essentially, three guys who aren’t just NBA players but main guys. Myself, Sato [Tomas Satoransky] and Willy [Hernangomez], and the experience is there because we’ve been playing professionally for a long time.”

A 6’8″ forward out of Duke, Parker hasn’t suited up for an NBA team since the 2021/22 season, which he split between the Kings and Celtics. As a deep-bench reserve, he averaged 5.5 PPG, 3.2 RPG and 0.8 APG in just 13 total games.

Parker told Phillip that he intends to focus on how he can help his new club in Spain rather than how he can use the opportunity as a springboard to get back to the NBA.

“I just want to be here,” Parker said. “My most important thing is not skipping steps. And I signed here with the intention of giving my all. I think being in the moment is very important for me.”

There’s more from around the basketball world:

The Thunder and Spurs, both of whom possess a variety of draft picks in addition to burgeoning young talent, occupy the top two slots in a fresh ranking of team assets, courtesy of HoopsHype’s Yossi Gozlan. Gozlan took stock of all 30 franchises’ rosters and future draft picks in making his list.
The fates of aging future Hall of Famers like Lakers small forward LeBron James and Sixers guard James Harden are among some of the top potential 2024 free agent storylines to watch, opines Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. James, who turns 39 in December, has a player option for 2024/25, while Harden is in the final season of his deal with Philadelphia. Harden, of course, is pushing to be dealt elsewhere this year.
The G League affiliates of the Pelicans and Hornets have completed a minor trade. The Pelicans’ affiliate, the Birmingham Squadron, has shipped out shooting guard John Petty Jr. and next year’s first-round NBGL draft pick to the Hornets’ affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, for the returning player rights to point guard Jalen Crutcher, per a Swarm tweet.

Hornets Sign Jaylen Sims, Three Others

September 8th, 2023 at 7:39am CST by Luke Adams

The Hornets have officially signed four players, the team announced this week in a press release. While the Hornets didn’t reveal the terms of the deals in their release, Jaylen Sims, Tre Scott, Nathan Mensah, and Angelo Allegri all received Exhibit 10 contracts, Hoops Rumors can confirm.

Sims, who went undrafted out of UNC Wilmington in 2022, spent training camp last fall with the Hornets, then was waived at the end of the preseason. The 6’6″ wing spent his rookie year with the Greensboro Swarm, Charlotte’s G League affiliate, averaging 10.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists 25.3 minutes per night across 39 Showcase Cup and regular season games.

Sims is the only one of Charlotte’s new additions whose deal wasn’t previously reported. Scott reached an agreement with the team in August, while Mensah and Allegri agreed to terms with the Hornets right after June’s draft.

Scott appeared in two NBA games for Cleveland during the 2021/22 season but has primarily played in the G League and overseas since going undrafted out of Cincinnati in 2020. Mensah and Allegri went undrafted this June out of San Diego State and Eastern Washington, respectively. Mensah was a two-time Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year with the Aztecs.

The Hornets now have a full 21-man offseason roster. Their squad features 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, one (Frank Ntilikina) with a partial guarantee, one (JT Thor) on a non-guaranteed deal, a pair on two-way contracts, and four on Exhibit 10 pacts.

Charlotte also reportedly reached an agreement on a non-guaranteed contract with R.J. Hunter. The club will have to make a cut at some point if it still intends to complete that deal — if the signing is just for G League purposes, it may not happen until sometime in October.

Sims, Scott, Mensah, and Allegri will likely all end up being waived and reporting to the Swarm for the start of the NBAGL season. Spending at least 60 days with the Hornets’ G League affiliate would allow each player to earn a bonus worth up to $75K.

It’s worth noting, since Charlotte has one two-way slot available, that Exhibit 10 contracts can be converted into two-way deals anytime prior to the first day of the regular season. However, the Hornets still have a two-way qualifying offer on the table to Theo Maledon, so they may envision him being the one to eventually fill that opening.

Eastern Notes: Washington, Bryant, Heat, Pistons, Mykhailiuk

September 6th, 2023 at 8:21pm CST by Rory Maher

Following a press conference to talk about his new three-year contract, Hornets forward P.J. Washington gave an exclusive interview to Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer.

Washington, who was the last standard restricted free agent left on the board, said he was relieved to finally re-sign with Charlotte, nearly two full months after free agency opened at the end of June. He also touched on Miles Bridges‘ return, playing under head coach Steve Clifford, rookie additions Brandon Miller and Nick Smith, and what he’s been working to improve on this offseason, among other topics.

As far as the team’s goal, Washington says the Hornets are focused on something he has yet to achieve in his four-year career — making the playoffs.

“That’s the main focus for us,” Washington told Boone. “Since I’ve been here I haven’t been in the playoffs at all. So I want to get a taste of that. I want to see how it feels, and I want to eventually win in the playoffs. I think we have a good coaching staff, we have a good front office, we have good players. So, I think we have everything it takes to be there. It’s just about us being consistent each and every day and trying, but we have to fight and make it happen.”

Here’s more from the East:

Veteran center Thomas Bryant says he prioritized the Heat in free agency because “they really wanted me,” according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. A skilled scorer, Bryant thinks his offensive versatility will help Miami. “I feel like I can help this team based on what I’ve seen as an interior presence, interior scoring, my versatility out there to be able to shoot the three and make mid-range jump shots and score at the rim,” Bryant said. “But I feel like the versatility that I will bring to the table will really help the team in a great way.” Bryant, who signed a two-year deal with the Heat that includes a player option, will be competing for backup center minutes, Chiang notes.
The Heat have a full 21-man offseason roster at the moment, but five players are on Exhibit 10 training camp deals, three are on two-way deals, and Orlando Robinson‘s contract is only partially guaranteed for $75K. In practical terms, that means the Heat only have 12 players with guaranteed standard contracts. Assuming Robinson makes the roster out of camp, Miami will still need to add at least one player to its standard regular season roster, Chiang adds in the same article. As Chiang writes, in the new CBA teams can carry fewer than 14 players on standard deals for a total of 28 days in a season, and only up to 14 consecutively.
The Pistons have an intriguing blend of youth combined with veterans who can shoot. While the young core gains more experience, Detroit’s depth should provide new head coach Monty Williams plenty of options ahead of training camp, per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.
Svi Mykhailiuk recently signed a one-year deal with the Celtics that — for now — is partially guaranteed at $200K. Jared Weiss of The Athletic examines what the veteran wing might provide for Boston, writing that Mykhailiuk is a talented if inconsistent offensive player who has some defensive limitations. Still, his size, shooting and complementary play-making could be useful off the bench, according to Weiss.

Hornets Unlikely To Add More Guaranteed Deals

September 5th, 2023 at 7:24pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Hornets are unlikely to add more players on guaranteed contracts before the season begins, according to general manager Mitch Kupchak, Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer tweets.

After coming to terms with restricted free agent P.J. Washington, the Hornets have 13 players on fully guaranteed deals, plus another (Frank Ntilikina) on a partial guarantee. JT Thor has a non-guaranteed contract for the upcoming season.

Contract Details: Mykhailiuk, Harrison, Washington, More

September 5th, 2023 at 3:15pm CST by Luke Adams

The contract that Svi Mykhailiuk signed with the Celtics is a one-year, minimum-salary deal that is partially guaranteed for $200K, Hoops Rumors has learned. If Mykhailiuk remains under contract through at least the start of the regular season, his partial guarantee would increase to 50% of his $2,346,614 salary, which works out to $1,173,307. He’d be assured of his full salary for 2023/24 if he isn’t waived on or before January 7.

Here are more details on a few recently signed contracts:

Shaquille Harrison‘s contract with the Grizzlies is a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 deal, Hoops Rumors has learned. While there has been some speculation that Harrison could fill the extra roster spot Memphis will create after the first five games of the season (when Ja Morant can be moved to the suspended list), he seems unlikely to make the opening-night roster. So if the Grizzlies want to have him fill that spot, Harrison would likely be waived and then re-signed.
As previously reported, P.J. Washington‘s contract with the Hornets is worth exactly $46.5MM, with $1.5MM in total incentives ($500K per year). It’s fully guaranteed with no options. Since his bonuses are considered unlikely, Washington’s first-year cap hit is $16,847,826; he’ll make a base salary of $15.5MM in year two and $14,152,174 in year three.
The two-way contracts recently signed by GG Jackson (Grizzlies) and TyTy Washington (Bucks) are each just for one year, so both players will be eligible for restricted free agency in 2024.

And-Ones: Executives, Value Deals, Super-Max, Milestones

September 1st, 2023 at 10:03pm CST by Rory Maher

Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports recently ranked 25 of the NBA’s top decision-makers in terms of how successful they’ve been at drafting, making trades, and signing free agents over the course of their respective careers. The other five lead executives were not evaluated due to a small sample size.

As Rohrbach writes, with how his system is set up, having a high score over a long career is more impressive than an executive who performed similarly with fewer years of experience. Still, there’s an obvious caveat: his evaluation process is subjective.

Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison is ranked No. 25, followed by Hornets president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak and Bulls executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas. The top three executives in Rohrbach’s system are Jazz CEO Danny Ainge (No. 1), Raptors president Masai Ujiri, and Spurs GM Brian Wright.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype created three all-contract-value teams comprised of players at each of the five positions. Players on rookie deals and those with maximum salaries were excluded from consideration. Gozlan’s first team features four members of the United States’ World Cup roster — Jalen Brunson, Austin Reaves, Mikal Bridges and Jaren Jackson Jr. Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen takes the final spot.
Signing players to a Designated Veteran contract, also known as the “super-max,” is a polarizing topic among NBA executives, according to Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. “Super-max isn’t a guarantee of the result you’re looking for,” one general manager told Heavy Sports. “Just because you qualify doesn’t make you that guy. Inflated contracts are even harder to move. The additional penalties in the new CBA should slow the roll of everybody giving out a super-max deal the first time a guy qualifies for it. Just because a guy qualifies for it doesn’t necessarily make him entitled to it. That’s become the issue in the league. If you’re going to call yourself a franchise-level player, which is what I think the super-max number says, you’ve got to have more than just putting up numbers.”
ESPN.com lists some noteworthy milestones and anniversaries to watch for the 2023/24 season, noting that Lakers superstar LeBron James is on track to surpass 40,000 career points if he maintains his stellar production and stays healthy. James became the league’s all-time leading scorer last season.

Checking In On Unsigned 2023 Draft Picks

September 1st, 2023 at 9:01am CST by Luke Adams

When he signed a two-way contract with the Grizzlies on Thursday, No. 45 pick overall pick GG Jackson became the 54th player selected in the 2023 draft to sign with his NBA team. Two of the 60 picks in this year’s draft were forfeited, which means there are just four players who have yet to sign NBA contracts.

As our tracker shows, those players are as follows:

Charlotte Hornets: James Nnaji, C
Washington Wizards: Tristan Vukcevic, F
Indiana Pacers: Mojave King, G
Memphis Grizzlies: Tarik Biberovic, G/F

It seems safe to assume we won’t see King and Biberovic in the NBA this season. Reports during or shortly after the draft indicated that they’ll be draft-and-stash prospects who will continue to hone their skills in international leagues while the Pacers and Grizzlies, respectively, control their NBA rights.

It’s possible that Nnaji and Vukcevic will take a similar path, but that has not yet been confirmed.

Speaking in July to Tony Canyameras of Mundo Deportivo (translation via Eurohoops), Nnaji said his expectation at that point was that he’d spend another season in Europe with FC Barcelona, but his future remained up in the air.

“We have to see how everything goes. The circumstances depend on what happens in the Summer League. But for now, I would say yes,” Nnaji said of returning to Barcelona.

The Hornets currently only have 13 players on guaranteed salaries for 2023/24, so they’d have room on their roster to add Nnaji if they want to.

But Frank Ntilikina, who has a $200K partial guarantee, looks like a good bet to be the 14th man, while JT Thor (non-guaranteed contract) and Theo Maledon (two-way RFA) are candidates for the 15th spot. So Charlotte has options and may prefer to wait a year on the 19-year-old Nnaji, who could use another developmental season in Spain.

As for Vukcevic, Christos Tsaltas of Sportal.gr (Twitter link) reported in mid-August that there’s a “strong possibility” the 42nd overall pick will remain with overseas for 2023/24. He’s under contract with Partizan Belgrade, though there were rumors in July that the Serbian club was considering loaning him to Greek team Peristeri BC.

Like Nnaji, Vukcevic isn’t locked into a plan for next season yet, but it would make sense for the 20-year-old to spend at least one more season in Europe, despite his desire to come stateside right away. The Wizards currently have 16 players on guaranteed contracts, so their standard roster is already pretty crowded. And they wouldn’t be permitted to sign him to a two-way deal if they were to buy him out from Partizan.

We’ll wait for further clarity on the plans for Nnaji and Vukcevic, but it’s possible that Jackson’s deal with the Grizzlies will be the last contract signed by a 2023 NBA draft pick before the ’23/24 season begins.

Hornets Waive Kobi Simmons

August 31st, 2023 at 5:07pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Hornets have waived guard Kobi Simmons, according to a team press release.

Simmons, 26, signed a two-way contract with the Hornets in March after spending most of the season with the team’s G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm. The former Arizona guard then saw his two-way contract converted into a standard deal in April. His minimum salary for ’23/24 was fully non-guaranteed.

Simmons averaged 19.2 points, 4.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 46 regular season and Showcase Cup games for the Swarm in 2022/23, shooting 38.1% from deep. Last season was actually Simmons’ third playing for the Swarm. However, Simmons only made five NBA appearances in ’22/23, scoring just five total points in that span of time.

Simmons is a seasoned G League veteran, having played in 159 games in the NBA’s developmental league since going undrafted in 2017. The 6’5″ guard began his career with the Grizzlies on a two-way deal back in the ’17/18 season, averaging 6.1 points in 32 games (12 starts) with Memphis. However, the Grizzlies cut ties with him following the season.

The next year, in ’17/18, the Cavaliers signed Simmons to a 10-day contract and he appeared in a single game, but he didn’t stick around in Cleveland. After that, Simmons played for the Swarm in three of the next four seasons before landing his two-way deal with the team.

After signing P.J. Washington to a deal, Charlotte’s roster quickly became crowded. Having cut Simmons, Charlotte is down to 15 players on standard contracts (JT Thor and Frank Ntilikina have non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed deals). The Hornets also have two players on two-way deals (Leaky Black and Amari Bailey) and four more who are reportedly joining the team for training camp (R.J. Hunter, Angelo Allegri, Nathan Mensah and Tre Scott).

The team drafted James Nnaji with the No. 31 overall pick this year but he has yet to sign and may be stashed. Theo Maledon remains a two-way restricted free agent.