- Within a mailbag for The Charlotte Observer, Roderick Boone says he expects the Hornets to re-sign Dennis Smith Jr. in free agency this offseason, referring to the union between Charlotte and the veteran guard as a “perfect marriage.”
Center Deandre Ayton (ribs) and point guard Chris Paul (groin) were inactive for the final game of Phoenix’s season on Thursday night, and it’s possible they’ve played in a Suns uniform for the last time, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com.
According to MacMahon, who cites league sources, the Suns are expected to “aggressively” explore Ayton’s trade market this offseason. Sources tell ESPN that the former No. 1 overall pick would be excited by the opportunity to get a fresh start with another team.
Ayton reached restricted free agency last summer after he logged a playoff-low 17 minutes and had a sideline confrontation with head coach Monty Williams during the Suns’ final game of the postseason, a 33-point home loss to Dallas. The big man signed a four-year, maximum-salary offer sheet with the Pacers, and was said to be keen on the idea of teaming up with Tyrese Haliburton in Indiana, but the Suns quickly matched that offer in order to retain him.
Sources tell MacMahon that Williams and some Suns players have been frustrated at times with “what they perceive to be inconsistent effort and aggression” from Ayton. Sean Deveney of Heavy.com has also heard that the center will likely be on the trade block this offseason.
“It’s almost certain they will look into trading him,” one general manager told Deveney. “I think they feel like they can do all right with a mishmash of decent centers and changing their focus on getting better talent around those two star guys. That’s been true for the past couple of years, really. Deandre has butted heads with Monty. But he can be a great player, still, it just needs to be somewhere else.”
Executives who spoke to Heavy.com speculated that the Bulls, Mavericks, Trail Blazers, and Hornets could be potential Ayton suitors.
The belief is that the Suns would be targeting ball-handlers, shooters, and/or three-and-D type players in any Ayton deal, rather than another big-money center, Deveney adds. MacMahon conveys a similar sentiment, writing that Phoenix would like to lessen the burden on Kevin Durant and Devin Booker by adding role players who complement them rather than a third star.
According to MacMahon, there’s also an expectation that Paul will be shopped before the Suns have to make a decision on his contract for 2023/24. Currently, only $15.8MM of the veteran’s $30.8MM salary is guaranteed.
In addition to mentioning this possibility in his ESPN.com story, MacMahon stated in stronger terms on the Hoop Collective podcast with Brian Windhorst that he expects Paul’s name to pop up in trade rumors.
“I certainly would anticipate they aggressively shop Chris Paul before that June 28 (salary guarantee) deadline,” MacMahon said. “I think it’s pretty likely that Chris Paul is elsewhere next year.”
As for a possible head coaching change or front office shakeup in Phoenix, there’s no solid reporting yet suggesting either will happen, but sources with other teams have speculated about the idea, MacMahon writes, noting that one scout told him when the Suns were down by 30 points at halftime on Thursday, “Some heads are going to roll for this one.”
Williams and GM James Jones have strong résumés and have helped rebuild the culture in Phoenix following several years in the lottery, but the team has now had two embarrassing playoff exits in a row and has a new owner (Mat Ishbia) who may be looking to put his stamp on the franchise.
After being named the CUSA Defensive Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons at Western Kentucky, Jamarion Sharp tested the NBA draft waters this spring, but the 7’5″ center has decided to withdraw from the draft process, according to Jeff Goodman of Stadium (Twitter link).
Sharp, who averaged an eye-popping 4.4 blocks per game in 64 appearances with Western Kentucky as a junior and senior, will be taking advantage of the extra year of NCAA eligibility afforded to him by the COVID-19 pandemic. He’s transferring to Ole Miss for his final college season, as Goodman notes.
Here are a few more draft-related updates:
- Senior wing Keylan Boone will withdraw from the draft and use his final year of NCAA eligibility, he tells Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Boone is transferring from Pacific to UNLV.
- Junior guard Jordan Ivy-Curry, Boone’s teammate at Pacific last season, will also remove his name from this year’s NBA draft pool, he confirms to Rothstein (Twitter link).
- Detroit senior forward Damezi Anderson Jr. has opted not to use his final year of college eligibility and will go pro, he tells Rothstein (Twitter link). Anderson is unlikely to be drafted after averaging 9.4 PPG and 4.5 RPG on .426/.346/.792 shooting in 33 games (27.4 MPG) last season.
- Alabama sophomore center Charles Bediako, who is testing the draft waters, isn’t ranked among ESPN’s top 100 prospects of 2023, but he’s generating plenty of pre-draft interest from NBA teams interested in checking him out. According to Matt Babcock of SI.com, Bediako has already worked out for the Grizzlies, Trail Blazers, Jazz, and Spurs, with auditions for the Mavericks and Thunder happening this week before he heads to the G League Elite Camp. The Hornets, Celtics, Kings, Rockets, and Cavaliers have also expressed interest in working out Bediako, his agent Daniel Green tells Babcock.
The Hornets have missed out on the playoffs for seven straight seasons. They don’t exactly have a great track record of success – they’ve only recorded 50-plus wins three times in 33 seasons and made the postseason a total of 10 times. None of those 50-win seasons and just three of their playoff berths have come in the last 19 years since they rejoined the NBA as an expansion team.
After going 23-42 in 2019/20, it seemed like Charlotte was on an upward trajectory — the team increased its win total by 10 in both ’20/21 (33-39) and ’21/22 (43-39). However, the Hornets were blown out as the No. 10 seed in the play-in tournament in ’21 and ’22, which led to former head coach James Borrego getting fired.
Unfortunately, the Hornets took a major step back this season from a win/loss perspective, going 27-55. Injuries to players up and down the roster certainly played a part in that decline, with only P.J. Washington playing 70 or more games (73). Off-court problems were another factor, as Miles Bridges missed the entire season after being arrested for felony domestic violence charges, later pleading no contest.
Even when relatively healthy though, the Hornets didn’t perform up to expectations. They had the worst offensive rating in the league by a pretty significant margin, struggling to score from all over the court.
Having said that, I don’t think the future is as gloomy as it might appear on the surface. In addition to having a 12.5% chance at the top overall draft pick, the Hornets have four other selections in the 27-42 range, giving them some interesting short-term options to improve.
The Hornets’ Offseason Plan:
If the Hornets choose to not bring back any of their players on non-guaranteed deals and renounce all of their free agents and other cap holds (besides their first-round picks), they could operate as a below-the-cap team and have more than $30MM in room to go after free agents. However, the odds of that happening are extremely remote.
President of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak already stated Charlotte doesn’t plan to be a major player in free agency and will instead look to retain its own free agents and add talent through the draft. That makes sense, both from a financial and team-building perspective.
Not only are the Hornets’ own free agents likely better than the players they could add with that theoretical cap room, but operating as an over-the-cap team also gives them access to the full mid-level exception ($12.2MM) and the bi-annual exception ($4.5MM). If they went the other route, they’d only have the $7.6MM room exception to fill out the roster (on top of their cap space).
Re-signing Bridges probably won’t be a popular choice, but it has seemed inevitable for a long time. He was set to be one of the top players on the market last summer but was arrested mere days before an enormous payday.
The Hornets never withdrew his qualifying offer, so he’ll be a restricted free agent again in 2023 as long as the team reissues that QO this summer. It’s hard to say how much he’ll get paid on his next contract given everything that’s happened — I still think he’s likely to get something in the $25MM+ per year range, but it probably won’t approach a max like it may have last offseason.
Washington is the other key restricted free agent for Charlotte. His next contract might be less lucrative than Bridges’, but I think the Hornets will match any offer sheet up to around $20MM per year. They’d certainly prefer to pay him less than that though, perhaps in the range of $14-16MM annually – I would bet on Washington’s agents looking for more money from a rival team if that’s as high as Charlotte goes. It will be interesting to see how his situation plays out.
The team’s unrestricted free agents include Kelly Oubre, Svi Mykhailiuk and Dennis Smith Jr. Both Oubre (multiple times) and Smith have spoken about wanting to remain with the Hornets, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they return, but that might depend on how the draft goes.
Oubre made $12.6MM in ‘22/23 and I think he’ll probably get something in the ballpark of that figure on annual basis this summer, perhaps on a two- or three-year deal. I don’t expect Smith to have a robust market due to his scoring struggles, but he has become a much better decision-maker and an outstanding point-of-attack defender. They Hornets will have his Non-Bird rights if they want to give him a modest raise on his minimum-salary deal — otherwise they’ll have to use one of the aforementioned exceptions to give him a bit more money.
Giving LaMelo Ball a rookie scale extension is probably a mere formality. The former All-Star dealt with multiple ankle injuries in ‘22/23, but I still think he’s likely going to get a max contract.
My expectation is the Hornets will be involved in at least a couple of trades this offseason. If they keep all of their players on guaranteed contracts, re-sign Bridges, Washington, Oubre and Smith, and keep JT Thor’s non-guaranteed deal, they’d have 16 players under standard contracts if you include their two first-round picks. That’s one more than permitted.
They’ll also have three second-rounders ranging from No. 34-42. They could package those to try to move up in the first round, but Kupchak has had some nice second-round finds since he’s been in charge, so I’m not sure that’s likely. Even with the addition of a third two-way slot, the Hornets will still have a roster crunch, so look for some trade activity.
Salary Cap Situation
Guaranteed Salary
Gordon Hayward ($31,500,000)- Terry Rozier ($23,205,221)
- LaMelo Ball ($10,900,635)
- Cody Martin ($7,560,000)
- Nick Richards ($5,000,000)
- James Bouknight ($4,570,080)
- Mark Williams ($3,980,160)
- Kai Jones ($3,047,880)
- Bryce McGowens ($1,719,864)
- Xavier Sneed (two-way)
- Total: $91,483,840
Dead/Retained Salary
- None
Player Options
- None
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Kobi Simmons ($2,066,585)
- JT Thor ($1,836,096)
- Total: $3,902,681
Restricted Free Agents
- P.J. Washington ($8,486,620 qualifying offer / $17,425,305 cap hold): Bird rights
- Miles Bridges ($7,744,600 qualifying offer / $16,264,479 cap hold): Bird rights
- Total (cap holds): $33,689,784
Two-Way Free Agents
Draft Picks
- No. 4 overall ($8,678,400)
- Note: This is only a placeholder until the draft order is determined via the lottery.
- No. 27 overall ($2,427,360)
- No. 34 overall (no cap hold)
- No. 39 overall (no cap hold)
- No. 42 overall (no cap hold)
- Total: $11,105,760
Extension-Eligible Players
- Gordon Hayward (veteran)
- JT Thor (veteran)
- LaMelo Ball (rookie scale)
Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds
- Kelly Oubre ($16,380,000 cap hold): Early Bird rights
- Dennis Smith Jr. ($1,989,698 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Svi Mykhailiuk ($1,989,698 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Isaiah Thomas ($1,989,698 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Arnoldas Kulboka ($1,774,999 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Scottie Lewis ($1,774,999 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Total: $25,899,092
Note: The cap holds for Thomas, Kulboka, and Lewis remain on the Hornets’ books from prior seasons because they haven’t been renounced. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.
Cap Exceptions Available
- Mid-level exception: $12,220,600
- Bi-annual exception: $4,448,000
- Trade exception: $1,930,681
Rookie of the Year winner Paolo Banchero was a unanimous choice for the 2022/23 All-Rookie First Team, the NBA announced today (via Twitter).
Players receive two points for a First Team vote and one point for a Second Team vote, and Banchero received the maximum possible 200 points.
Here’s the full five-man squad, listed in order of their total points received via voters:
Magic forward Banchero (200)- Thunder guard/forward Jalen Williams (199)
- Jazz center Walker Kessler (195)
- Kings forward Keegan Murray (185)
- Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin (170)
The All-Rookie Second Team was announced as well, with a couple of teammates headlining the group (Twitter link).
- Pistons guard Jaden Ivey (142)
- Pistons center Jalen Duren (85)
- Rockets forward Jabari Smith (72)
- Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (66)
- Rockets forward Tari Eason (47)
In my opinion, the most surprising omission from the All-Rookie Second Team was Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard, who received 46 points. Nembhard was actually listed on one more ballot than Eason, but Eason received two First Team votes versus Nembhard’s zero, giving him a narrow edge.
That’s not to say Eason (or anyone else) was undeserving — he had a strong season as a tenacious offensive rebounder and defender. I just thought Nembhard should have been honored because he started the majority of the season for a competitive Indiana team and was frequently tasked with guarding the opposing teams’ best player, as Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files notes (via Twitter).
According to the NBA (Twitter link), others receiving votes included Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe (36), Hawks wing AJ Griffin (26), Nuggets forward Christian Braun, Thunder center Jaylin Williams (seven), Mavericks guard Jaden Hardy (four), Spurs guard Malaki Branham (three), Pelicans guard Dyson Daniels (two), Hornets center Mark Williams (two) and Bucks wing MarJon Beauchamp (one).
In case you missed it, more NBA awards will be coming later this week. The All-Defensive teams will be announced on Tuesday, followed by All-NBA on Wednesday and the Teammate of the Year award on Thursday.
- The Hornets are hosting a group of six prospects for a pre-draft workout on Friday, the team announced in a press release. Led by Eastern Michigan forward and former five-star recruit Emoni Bates, the workout will also include Meechie Johnson Jr. (South Carolina), Jaylen Martin (Overtime Elite), Landers Nolley (Cincinnati), Jalen Slawson (Furman), and Trey Wertz (Notre Dame).
Celtics guard Marcus Smart has won the NBA’s Hustle Award for 2022/23, the league announced in a press release (story via Brian Martin of NBA.com). The 29-year-old also won the award last season, becoming the first back-to-back winner, and has now been the recipient three times in the past five seasons.
This is the seventh season for the Hustle Award, which was created in ’16/17, Martin notes. It is a merit-based award reflective of NBA.com’s hustle stats, including charges drawn, loose balls recovered, deflections, box outs, screen assists and contested shots.
The top-five finishers for the award, in order, were Smart, Warriors forward/center Draymond Green, Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith, Knicks center Mitchell Robinson and Pelicans forward Herbert Jones.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report takes a look at the best guards available on the 2023 free agent market and their potential landing spots. Pincus thinks a team with cap room might try to pry restricted free agent Austin Reaves from the Lakers with a large offer sheet, but he thinks L.A. will ultimately match.
- John Hollinger of The Athletic, who used to work for the Grizzlies and was part of the front office that drafted Dillon Brooks, believes the small forward can still be a positive contributor for a number of teams as long as he can toe “The Line” between “competitive and crazy.” Teams over the cap but below the luxury tax line could offer the impending free agent the full mid-level exception, and Hollinger points to the Bulls, Hornets, Mavericks, Kings, Trail Blazers and Hawks as clubs that could use defensive help on the wing. As for teams with cap room, the Pistons, Rockets, Pacers and Jazz might be interested in Brooks if they miss out on pricier targets, according to Hollinger.
- UConn guard Jordan Hawkins has been invited to the NBA draft combine, which takes place later this month, according Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com (Twitter link). Considered one of the best shooters in the 2023 class, Hawkins is a potential lottery pick, currently ranked No. 13 on ESPN’s big board. As Zagoria previously reported, Hawkins will be joining a couple of his teammates (Andre Jackson and Adama Sanogo) at the combine.
The Hornets have begun working out draft prospects as they try to bounce back from a 27-win season. They brought in six prospects on Tuesday — Angelo Allegri (Eastern Washington), Malique Jacobs (Kent State), Jarkel Joiner (NC State), Seneca Knight (Illinois State), Jake Stephens (Chattanooga) and Qudus Wahab (Georgetown), the team’s PR department tweets. Joiner barely makes the cut on ESPN’s Best Available rankings — he ranks No. 100 on the list.
- NBA commissioner Adam Silver defended his suspension of Hornets forward Miles Bridges, which will keep him out of action for just 10 games next season, Shauntel Lowe of The New York Times writes. Bridges, who didn’t play this season, was technically suspended for 30 games for domestic violence but was given credit for 20 games for time served. Silver said crediting Bridges for 20 games seemed like the right thing to do because he missed a year of income.
Rival front offices are expecting Miles Bridges to re-sign with the Hornets this summer, Marc Stein states in his latest Substack article. Bridges, who will be suspended for the first 10 games of next season, didn’t play this year after being charged with felony domestic abuse for a June 2022 incident. Stein adds that in announcing the suspension, commissioner Adam Silver cited a mutual agreement between league officials and Bridges’ representatives at Klutch Sports that resulted in him sitting out the 2022/23 season.
Stein notes that Charlotte has a June 29 deadline to tender a $7.7MM qualifying offer that will make him a restricted free agent. One indication of Bridges’ possible intentions, Stein adds, is an online photo of himself that he recently posted wearing Hornets gear during a workout.
Bridges was expected to be one of the top names on the 2022 free agent market before the domestic abuse case. He became a full-time starter during his fourth NBA season and averaged 20.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 80 games.
There’s more from Stein:
- Ime Udoka, who was hired as the Rockets‘ new head coach last week, was on a similar hiatus from the league. Udoka was suspended for the season by the Celtics following an affair with a subordinate, and although there was no official punishment from the NBA, the league office agreed with the way Boston handled the situation, Stein adds. “The Celtics decided that he should be suspended for a year,” Silver said. “We reviewed that and determined it was fair under those circumstances. And then when other teams — and it wasn’t just the Rockets — asked us if he would be able to coach next season, we said he would be.”
- The Raptors had interest in hiring Udoka to replace Nick Nurse, but they intended to conduct a thorough coaching search that would last well into May, sources tell Stein. When the Rockets made a four-year offer reportedly worth $28.5MM, Udoka thought it was best to take that opportunity.
- The Mavericks are expected to consider James Borrego and Jeff Hornacek for openings on Jason Kidd‘s staff. Stein adds that Frank Vogel would be a logical addition because Kidd worked for him with the Lakers, but Vogel is still pursuing head coaching opportunities. Stein mentions former Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts as another possibility for Dallas.
- The Celtics would like to hire ex-Rockets head coach Stephen Silas as an assistant to Joe Mazzulla next season, sources tell Stein. Silas was seen in Boston last week at Game 5 of the first-round series with Atlanta.
- Re-signing restricted free agent P.J. Washington will likely be an offseason priority for the Hornets, according to Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez of The Charlotte Observer. After not receiving a rookie scale extension last fall, Washington responded with his best NBA season, averaging a career-high 15.7 PPG and ranking fourth in the league in clutch field goal percentage. Charlotte’s front office considers Washington part of the team’s young core and he has expressed a desire to stay there, Melvin-Rodriguez adds. She examines the entire roster, stating that Dennis Smith Jr. will likely get a new contract this summer, Kelly Oubre‘s fate will depend on what offers he gets in free agency and Gordon Hayward may not be moveable right away but could be more attractive at the trade deadline due to his expiring contract.