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LaMelo Ball Has Grade 2 Ankle Sprain

October 11th, 2022 at 4:18pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Hornets All-Star guard LaMelo Ball has a Grade 2 ankle sprain and will miss some games early in the regular season, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Ball underwent an MRI that confirmed the initial diagnosis of a left ankle sprain, which he suffered during Monday’s preseason game, the team’s PR department tweets. His return to full basketball activities will be determined by his response to rehab and treatment.

According to InStreetClothes.com’s Jeff Stotts (Twitter link), some other notable guards such as Mike Conley, Ja Morant, and Trae Young have suffered similar sprains in recent seasons. The average time lost is seven games or 19 days.

There’s a measure of relief in the Charlotte organization that the injury wasn’t more severe, Charania adds in another tweet. The injury occurred during the third quarter against Washington when his foot was stepped on by the Wizards’ Anthony Gill as Ball was driving the lane.

With Ball sidelined, James Bouknight, Dennis Smith Jr. and Cody Martin could see additional backcourt minutes.

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Miles Bridges' Hearing Delayed Again

October 9th, 2022 at 10:00pm CST by Luke Adams
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Kemba Walker Continues To Await Next Opportunity

October 8th, 2022 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Appearing at the Hornets/Celtics preseason game at Greensboro Coliseum on Friday, point guard Kemba Walker confirmed that he hasn’t gotten a satisfactory buyout offer from the Pistons yet and is remaining patient as he waits for his next NBA opportunity, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.

The Pistons, who have 16 players on guaranteed contracts, are widely expected to waive Walker before the regular season begins, whether or not he agrees to forfeit any of the $9.17MM he’s owed in 2022/23. It doesn’t make sense for the veteran to give up money in a buyout agreement until another team offers him a guaranteed contract, and there’s no indication that has happened yet. But Walker feels healthy and believes it’s just a matter of time until he gets a shot from a new team.

“I’ve got something in the tank for sure,” he said. “I feel great. I’m going to be honest. I’m going to have my opportunity. I’m not in any rush right now. I’m just grinding and trying to feel as good as I can. And right now, I feel great. I feel as good as I’ve felt in a long time. I’m just waiting for the opportunity.”

A four-time All-Star, Walker has started every game he’s played since the 2014/15 season, but recognizes that after battling knee issues for the last few years, he can’t realistically expect to continue in that role going forward.

“I just want to be able to play basketball again; I don’t care if it’s the bench or not,” he said, per Washburn. “I started off my career playing basketball coming off the bench. Who cares? I just want to be able to play ball like I love to do, being around some great, great teammates and just have fun.”

There haven’t been many potential suitors connected to Walker this offseason, but one team rumored to have some interest is his old club in Charlotte. While it sounds like Walker is open to rejoining the Hornets before his career is over, he wants to make it clear that he doesn’t think he’ll be retiring anytime soon.

“That would be special,” Walker said when asked about a return to the Hornets. “(But) as far as closing my career, I’ve got a few more years left, in my opinion, so I’m not thinking about that yet. We’ll see. I’m just waiting. (Nobody’s) reached out to me. I’m just waiting.”

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Hornets Sign Xavier Sneed To Exhibit 10 Contract

October 6th, 2022 at 10:44am CST by Luke Adams

The Hornets are signing veteran free agent forward Xavier Sneed to an Exhibit 10 contract, according to Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).

Sneed, 24, went undrafted out of Kansas State in 2020 and has since played a regular role for the Greensboro Swarm, the Hornets’ G League affiliate. His solid play in the NBAGL earned him a 10-day contract with the Grizzlies last December and a two-way deal with Utah in February. Sneed appeared in nine games with the two teams last season at the NBA level, logging just 39 total minutes.

While Sneed’s two-way contract with the Jazz included a second season, Utah opted to waive him last month. Based on his new agreement with the Hornets, it seems likely that Sneed will head back to Greensboro as a returning rights player this season — his Exhibit 10 deal will put him in line for a bonus worth up to $50K on top of his G League salary if he spends at least 60 days with the Swarm.

As we noted earlier today, the Hornets have waived camp invitee Isaiah Whaley, so they have an open spot on their 20-man preseason roster for Sneed.

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Hornets Waive Isaiah Whaley

October 6th, 2022 at 9:03am CST by Luke Adams

The Hornets have waived rookie forward Isaiah Whaley, tweets Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer. The move opens up a spot on Charlotte’s 20-man preseason roster.

Whaley signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Hornets this offseason after going undrafted out of UConn. In five seasons with the Huskies, he appeared in a total of 138 games for the Huskies, including 32 in 2021/22, when he averaged 7.7 PPG and 4.8 RPG in 28.5 MPG as a full-time starter.

Although Whaley wasn’t a major offensive threat at UConn, he earned a reputation as a talented defender. He averaged 2.4 blocks per contest across his final two college seasons, and was the co-winner of the Big East’s Defensive Player of the Year award in 2021.

Whaley will likely be headed for the Greensboro Swarm – Charlotte’s G League team – as an affiliate player after being waived by the Hornets. He’ll earn a $50K bonus if he spends at least 60 days with the Swarm.

Jalen Crutcher, Jaylen Sims, and Anthony Duruji remain on the Hornets’ roster on Exhibit 10 deals. They could be in the mix for the team’s open two-way slot.

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Hornets Allow Bridges' QO To Expire

October 3rd, 2022 at 10:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder
  • The Hornets did not extend the deadline for Miles Bridges‘ $7,921,300 qualifying offer, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on The Rally TV show (Twitter link). Charlotte had an Oct. 1 cutoff date to extend the offer or allow it to expire. However, Bridges remains a restricted free agent. Bridges’ legal issues have made his free agency a moot point at this stage.
  • Steve Clifford, who is in his second stint as the Hornets’ coach, said he did a “poor job” in his most recent season with Charlotte, he told Joe Vardon of The Athletic. The 2017/18 team won 36 games and failed to make the playoffs. “That was a team I did a poor job with as much as anything, because we had always been good defensively, and I thought if we could get better on offense we’d really have a chance to be good,” Clifford said. “We spent training camp doing a ton of offense, and we were never good defensively.”
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Hornets Notes: Bouknight, Jones, Thor, Bridges, Hayward

October 2nd, 2022 at 3:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Second-year Hornets players James Bouknight, Kai Jones and JT Thor are hoping to enjoy more responsibilities with Charlotte this season, per Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer. Boone notes that this triumvirate of reserves needs to be prepared when new (returning) head coach Steve Clifford calls their number.

“We’ve talked about the potential of the team,” Jones said. “The biggest thing for us is always just being workers. We talk about that all the time, getting your extra in, coming in whenever you can — early morning, late at night — to be the player that you can be. Fulfill your potential.”

Bouknight reflected on the areas of his game he has been building out during the offseason.

“Just working over the summer on making the right reads on the weak side, passing the ball, playing with my size, playing on the defensive end,” he said. “I just think I’m capable of doing everything on the court, honestly.” 

There’s more out of Charlotte:

  • The future of current Hornets forward Miles Bridges, Charlotte’s leading scorer in 2021/22, remains up in the air. The preliminary hearing in Los Angeles for his three domestic violence felony charges has been pushed back for a fourth time, from September 16 to October 7, according to Michael Gordon and Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer. Bridges pleaded not guilty to all three charges in July. He remains a restricted free agent.
  • Oft-injured Hornets forward Gordon Hayward is missing today’s preseason opener after he “banged his knee” in a team practice, per Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link). “He wants to play,” head coach Steve Clifford said. “He’s actually a little upset about it, but it doesn’t make any sense to me and it doesn’t make any sense to [team trainer] Joe [Sharpe].”
  • In case you missed it, Luke Adams penned a Community Shootaround piece about some of the big questions surrounding the Hornets heading into the 2022/23 season. Weigh in with your thoughts!
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Marvin Williams Joins Hornets' Basketball Operations Department

September 30th, 2022 at 9:18am CST by Luke Adams
  • Longtime Hornets forward Marvin Williams has rejoined the franchise in a basketball operations role, tweets Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer. In his new position, Williams will assist with player programs and with player development off the court, according to Boone.
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Contract Details: Lakers, Galloway, DSJ, McCollum, More

September 30th, 2022 at 7:59am CST by Luke Adams

When the Lakers signed Matt Ryan and Dwayne Bacon to non-guaranteed training camp contracts earlier this month, both players received Exhibit 9 clauses in their new deals, but not Exhibit 10s, Hoops Rumors has learned.

Exhibit 9 contracts are non-guaranteed camp deals that don’t count against the cap during the preseason and offer teams some protection in the event of an injury. Exhibit 10s are similar, but also allow teams to convert the player to a two-way deal (if he’s eligible) or to give him a bonus worth up to $50K if he’s waived and then spends at least 60 days with the team’s G League affiliate.

As a general rule, a player who signs a training camp contract without an Exhibit 10 clause is usually just competing for a spot on his team’s 15-man regular season roster and won’t end up playing for the club’s G League affiliate if he doesn’t make the cut.

Langston Galloway (Pacers), Dennis Smith Jr. (Hornets), LiAngelo Ball (Hornets), Cody Zeller (Jazz), Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (Suns), and Wes Iwundu (Trail Blazers) are among the other recently signed free agents who signed Exhibit 9 – not Exhibit 10 – contracts.

Here are a few more contract details from around the NBA:

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Clifford Emphasizing Selfless Play

September 27th, 2022 at 8:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

In his second stint as the Hornets‘ head coach, Steve Clifford says that individual agendas have to be put aside if they want to be more than just a play-in team, Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer writes.

“We have to be more selfless,” Hornets forward Kelly Oubre said. “We noticed that last year, that when we tried to go out and do things on our own it doesn’t work out as well as it would if we all did it together. So, coach talked about sacrificing some parts of our game to win and winning is the only option. Winning is what we practice and work hard for and we need to consistently do that to show that we are a serious team.”

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