- The Hornets have added Norm Richardson to James Borrego‘s coaching staff, league sources tell Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). A former NBA player, Richardson has spent most of the last several years as a G League assistant in Erie and Fort Wayne.
- The Hornets also named a new G League head coach, announcing in press release that Jordan Surenkamp – formerly the head video coordinator in Charlotte – will coach the Greensboro Swarm.
Point guard Ish Smith will be playing for his 12th NBA franchise this season but his stint with the Hornets will be special, Sam Perley of the team’s website notes. Smith grew up in Charlotte, NC.
Smith signed a two-year deal with the Hornets last month.
Forward Cameron McGriff has agreed to an Exhibit 10 contract with the Hornets, Adam Zagoria of Forbes tweets.
McGriff played four seasons with Oklahoma State and went undrafted in 2020. He averaged 12.3 PPG and 6.6 RPG in his senior year.
McGriff played for Belgium’s Okapi Aalstar last season, averaging 13.5 PPG and 5.0 RPG. He was on the Hornets’ summer league roster.
Exhibit 10 contracts give NBA teams a chance to bring players to training camp and get a look at them without guaranteeing them a regular season roster spot or any real salary. If he ends up playing for the Greensboro Swarm, Charlotte’s G League affiliate, McGriff could earn a $50K bonus due to the Exhibit 10 language in his deal.
It’s no secret that the Sixers and maximum-salaried All-Star lead ball-handler Ben Simmons appear destined for a divorce via trade. Evan Sidery of Basketball News posits that the pending split could work out well on both sides of the deal.
Simmons, 25, is a three-time All-Star and an All-Defensive Team staple. His offensive limitations have often confounded his teammates, coaches, and fans in Philadelphia. Sidery notes that, though Simmons may have been initially projected as a Magic Johnson-esque oversized point guard, he now appears destined to become more of a Draymond Green type, a pass-first point forward who can defend anybody.
Sidery suggests that the Sixers would benefit from moving on from Simmons, too, should they acquire a new guard with more scoring punch in a trade. Such a player could help create spacing against All-NBA Philadelphia center Joel Embiid.
There’s more out of the Eastern Conference:
- Despite trading away an intriguing backcourt talent in Devonte’ Graham, the Hornets ultimately improved their depth this offseason around incumbent leaders Gordon Hayward, Terry Rozier and LaMelo Ball, opines Zach Harper of The Athletic. The club’s new regular rotation additions James Bouknight, Kai Jones, Kelly Oubre, Mason Plumlee, and Ish Smith all appear poised to know their roles for a team hoping to qualify for the Eastern Conference playoffs in 2022.
- Spencer Davies of Basketball News has mixed feelings about the Pistons being so quick to move on from Sekou Doumbouya, the No. 15 pick in the 2019 draft, who was sent to Brooklyn in the DeAndre Jordan trade. Davies opines that the 6’8″ forward has an intriguing ceiling, and could have carved out a rotation slot on a still-rebuilding Detroit club.
- On the Nets‘ side of the equation, the club’s young new versatile forward Sekou Doumbouya could offer promise as a future rotation player, writes Chris Milholen of Nets Daily. Across the final nine games of his 2020/21 NBA season with the Pistons, Doumbouya averaged 10.7 PPG and 4.8 RPG, in 27.0 MPG.
Terry Rozier sees big things ahead for the Hornets after signing his $96MM contract extension, writes Jonathan M. Alexander of The Charlotte Observer.
“Last year we were right there, had our foot in the door, but things got taken away from us due to injury,” Rozier said on Wednesday. “But I think we’re heading in the right direction and I’m just glad to be a part of this.”
Rozier, a career point guard, was moved to shooting guard after coming to Charlotte and responded with the best season of his career. He’s excited for the team’s future, especially going into year two playing alongside LaMelo Ball.
“I think it’s going to be real scary,” Rozier said. “I think it’s great that we’re friends off the court. That’s a plus for us. Real cool friends, like my brother. He just had to get his feet wet last year, and I think he’s ready to show people what that name is about.”
Rozier and team president Mitch Kupchak are also in agreement that the goal for this season is a playoff berth, and even potentially a series win.
We have more news from the Hornets:
- Rozier has reasons to be pushing for the team to start experiencing playoff success beyond just on-court ambitions. According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter), if the Hornets reach the second round of the playoffs in any of the 2022/23, 2023/24 or 2024/25 seasons, and Rozier plays at least 70 games that year, the fourth year of his extension becomes fully guaranteed.
- According to Michael A. Scotto of HoopsHype, center Nerlens Noel had interest in the Hornets before ultimately re-signing with the Knicks, Scotto said on Wednesday’s episode of the HoopsHype podcast. Scotto says that playing alongside Ball as a pick and roll partner was a primary point of interest for the athletic big man.
- In the same episode, Scotto adds that given the potentially dry 2022 free agent market, it could behoove Miles Bridges to try to lock down an extension with the Hornets this offseason. He’ll have until October 18 to get something done with Charlotte.
- The Pelicans sent $2MM to the Hornets as part of the Devonte’ Graham sign-and-trade, reports Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. The Hornets also received a lottery-protected 2022 pick from the Pelicans in the deal.
AUGUST 24: The Hornets have officially signed Rozier to his extension, the team announced today in a press release.
“In his two seasons with the Hornets, Terry Rozier has been an instrumental part of our team,” president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak said in a statement. “Terry is a highly competitive, tough and talented player that has continually improved all aspects of his game. He has provided leadership and an infectious work ethic that has been a tremendous benefit to our younger players. Terry is an important member of our young, talented team and we are thrilled to have him as a member of the Hornets organization for years to come.”
AUGUST 19: The Hornets and guard Terry Rozier have agreed to a four-year contract extension, agent Aaron Turner tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The deal, which locks up Rozier through the 2025/26 season, is guaranteed and is for the maximum amount the Hornets could have offered before the 27-year-old reached free agency, according to Charania. That means it’ll start at about $21.49MM in 2022/23 (120% of Rozier’s $17.91MM salary for ’20/21) and will be worth approximately $96.26MM over four years.
Acquired by the Hornets in the sign-and-trade deal that sent Kemba Walker to Boston in 2019, Rozier had enjoyed the two best seasons of his NBA career in Charlotte. In 2020/21, he established new career highs in PPG (20.4), APG (4.2), and FG% (.450), among other categories.
Rozier has also become a reliable threat from beyond the arc, knocking down 39.6% of his 7.5 three-point attempts per game in 132 total contests for the Hornets. He shot three-pointers at a lesser rate (35.4%) on a lesser volume (3.5 attempts per game) during his four years with the Celtics.
Rozier’s play and the emergence of Rookie of the Year LaMelo Ball made the Hornets willing to part with Devonte’ Graham in free agency this summer. Rozier and Ball will lead a talented backcourt that also includes free agent addition Ish Smith and 2021 lottery pick James Bouknight.
A total of seven veteran players have now agreed to contract extensions since the new league year began, with Rozier joining Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler, Julius Randle, and Marcus Smart. Three players – Luka Doncic, Trae Young, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – have also finalized rookie scale extensions, as our tracker shows.
The Pacers have made an effort to trade Jeremy Lamb and his $10.5MM expiring contract this offseason, but haven’t had any luck, so the veteran wing will likely open the season on the team’s roster, writes J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star. However, according to Michael, Lamb isn’t expected to still be a Pacer by the end of the 2021/22 campaign.
Lamb, 29, suffered a torn ACL during his first season in Indiana in 2019/20. That injury delayed his start to his second season with the team, and lingering knee and leg issues limited him to 36 total games in 2020/21. He averaged 10.1 PPG and 3.6 RPG in .435/.406/.947 shooting in 21.3 minutes per contest.
As Michael writes, since the Pacers added Caris LeVert earlier this year and drafted Chris Duarte in July, there’s no longer a clear role on the wing for Lamb, so the team is comfortable moving on from him. However, Lamb may have to prove this fall that he’s fully healthy in order to increase his appeal as a trade chip. At this point, teams likely wouldn’t give up much of value to acquire him.
Although the Pacers haven’t found a deal they like yet, Michael hears that about four teams have expressed some level of interest in Lamb. The Lakers and Hornets are among those clubs, Michael adds.
- Terry Rozier‘s four-year extension with the Hornets is an indication of the weakness of next summer’s free agent class, writes Dan Devine of The Ringer. Several big names that could have been on the market in 2022 have already signed extensions, and Charlotte doesn’t have a strong history of attracting free agents. Devine points out that Rozier’s new contract, which could be worth more than $96MM, only ranks 19th among NBA guards, which is in line with his recent production. It also provides some continuity for a team that lost Devonte’ Graham, Cody Zeller and Malik Monk.
- Assistant coach Marlon Garnett has left the Hawks‘ staff to join the Hornets, tweets Chris Kirschner of The Athletic.
- LaMelo Ball took an unusual path to the NBA, leaving high school to play professionally in Lithuania and Australia before he was drafted. He has no regrets about that strategy, Scott Gleeson of USA Today relays from a GQ interview with the Hornets point guard. “You want go to the league, so school’s not your priority,” he said. “We not trippin’ off school. … We don’t need school.”
J.J. Redick, who finished last year on the Mavericks after being traded from the Pelicans, has no plans to sign a deal before training camp, he said on a recent episode of his podcast The Old Man And The Three.
“You know, I would say, pretty much definitively, like, I won’t be in a training camp to start the season,” he said. “That’s not gonna happen. So, you know, I’ll join a team at some point this season and finish the year and try to go get a chip. That’s the plan.”
Redick was vocally unhappy with what he felt were broken promises by Pelicans executive vice president David Griffin, which may have contributed to his desire to take his time in finding a new team.
We have more news from around the basketball world:
- LiAngelo Ball feels that he proved his worth with the Hornets’ Summer League team, writes Roderick Boone of Sports Illustrated. “I feel like I belong in the league, but I know I can show more than what I did,” Ball said. “I’m not satisfied with how I played this last game, but overall it was all right.” Ball started hot in his first game, but ended up shooting 37.5% from three with more turnovers than assists. ESPN’s Jordan Schultz quotes Hornets’ assistant Jay Triano as saying: “Great kid. Love him. He was at the facility practicing everyday for two months to play in the Summer League. Shows a ton of character.”
- High school basketball phenomenon Emoni Bates said that the fame of being on the Sports Illustrated cover – and generally being considered the top young prospect in the country from age 15 – was “fun at first,” but soon grew irritating, writes Jeff Goodman of Stadium. “The things people say definitely affect me,” Bates said. “People don’t really know me. If people knew who I really was, I don’t think they’d be saying some of the things they say.” Bates admits that he considered quitting, but said that he has finally gotten back to enjoying the game.
- Nick Nurse will remain in his role as Team Canada’s head coach during the lead-up to the 2024 Olympics, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet. Nurse is hoping he can recruit the best of Canada’s deep crop of talented players to join him over the next three years. Grange writes that Nurse wants a core group to train next summer and be ready for the World Cup qualifiers in June and August.