- Caleb Martin and Cody Martin are set to collide when the Heat play the Hornets on Monday, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel notes. The Martin twins spent the first two seasons of their careers with Charlotte, but Caleb inked a two-way deal with Miami last month.
- In two separate tweets, the Hornets announced Terry Rozier sprained his ankle and will be re-evaluated later in the week, while Gordon Hayward and Mason Plumlee are both out for tomorrow’s game at Miami due to health and safety protocols.
After waiving two players earlier in the day, the Hornets have wasted no time filling those newly-opened roster spots. According to a press release from the team, Charlotte has signed guard Jalen Crutcher and forward Cameron McGriff.
Crutcher, a 6’1″ point guard, spent his last four years at Dayton, where he averaged 17.6 PPG, 4.8 APG, and 3.5 RPG on .463/.372/.763 shooting in 24 games (38.1 MPG) as a senior in 2020/21. He suited up for Milwaukee’s Summer League team in Las Vegas after going undrafted.
McGriff, meanwhile, went undrafted in 2020 after four seasons with Oklahoma State. He averaged 12.3 PPG and 6.6 RPG in his senior year, then played for Belgium’s Okapi Aalstar last season, putting up 13.5 PPG and 5.0 RPG. The Hornets’ agreement with McGriff, who was on the club’s Summer League roster, was reported in September.
Neither Crutcher nor McGriff is likely to make the Hornets’ regular season roster, as the team currently has 16 players on fully guaranteed contracts. However, they’re strong candidates to play for the Greensboro Swarm, Charlotte’s G League affiliate. Assuming they signed Exhibit 10 contracts, Crutcher and McGriff will be in line for bonuses worth up to $50K if they spent at least 60 days with the Swarm.
The Hornets now once again have a full 20-man preseason roster.
The Hornets have cut a pair of training camp invitees, announcing today in a press release that D.J. Carton and Xavier Sneed have been placed on waivers.
Carton, a 6’2″ guard, played for one year at Ohio State before transferring to Marquette last season. He averaged 13 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game as a junior, then signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Charlotte in August after going undrafted in July.
Sneed, who went undrafted out of Kansas State in 2020, signed a training camp contract with Charlotte last offseason and then was waived at the end of the preseason. The 6’5″ wing played in 13 games (23.3 MPG) for the Greensboro Swarm, the Hornets’ G League affiliate, averaging 8.1 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.8 APG, and 1.8 SPG with a .360/.279/.875 shooting line.
Both Carton and Sneed seem likely to end up playing for the Swarm this season.
Charlotte now has 16 players on guaranteed contracts and a pair of players on two-way deals. The club will need to trade or release at least one player on a guaranteed contract before the regular season begins. The Hornets may also continue to move players in and out of their two open roster spots in order to secure their G League rights and/or ensure they receive an Exhibit 10 bonus.
- LaMelo Ball looks fully healthy after dealing with a wrist injury at the end of last season, according to Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer, who notes that the Hornets have inserted Miles Bridges into their starting lineup this season at least in part to take advantage of the chemistry between him and Ball.
- Hornets coach James Borrego wants LaMelo Ball to becomes the team leader at both ends of the floor, Steve Reed of The Associated Press writes. “I want him to take the reins of this program,” Borrego said. “He’s the quarterback, the floor general and for us to take that next step he must run this team, not only on the offensive end but the defensive end as well.”
- Forward Kelly Oubre was traded to Golden State last November and had to jump right into the rotation. He’s had more time to acclimate with the Hornets after signing a two-year, $26MM deal as a free agent in early August, Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer notes. “It makes a big difference,” Oubre said. “Me being able to to adjust, I didn’t really have that adjustment period last year because once I got traded I was right to work. So I’ve been here before the season, before training camp. And I’ve been blessed enough to have sit downs with coach, bonding time with the guys and pretty much just everybody getting on the same wavelength.”
Addressing a report that said Russell Westbrook helped engineer his trade to the Lakers, Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard downplayed Westbrook’s desire to leave Washington, suggesting the point guard asked about going to the Lakers, but didn’t want to be traded just anywhere.
“I really have to make sure the record is straight on that,” Sheppard told NBC Sports Washington’s Chris Miller (link via Matt Weyirch of NBC Sports Washington). “Russell actually never asked to move on. He just said, ‘If I can get to the Lakers, that’d be something I would love to do. If not, I’ll be back here.’ I said, ‘What about the Clippers?’ He said, ‘Hell no.’ So Russell was happy being here and we were very grateful for him being here.”
While Sheppard is being diplomatic, it would’ve been interesting to see whether Westbrook was truly happy to return to the Wizards for another season if the deal with the Lakers hadn’t worked out. The Athletic’s in-depth report earlier this week suggested that Westbrook tried to convince Bradley Beal early in the offseason that both of them should ask out of Washington.
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- Two years after joining the Hornets as a free agent, Terry Rozier signed a new long-term extension with the team this offseason and said on Tuesday that he feels like he’s found a home in Charlotte. “When you first get here, you just don’t know what to expect,” Rozier said, according to Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer. “You are on the back-burner trying to find everything out, and then fast forward to now and I love it. I love it. It’s so peaceful. The people are so nice. I say that all the time. It’s different for me and I love it.”
- Armed with a new five-year, $125MM contract, Hawks forward John Collins is looking forward to focusing exclusively on his on-court performance without having worry about his contract situation, per Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I don’t have to think about getting traded. I don’t have to think about losing what I built, and I don’t have to think about packing my house up,” Collins said. “… I know I’m going to be here, and I can continue to build. I’m just happy I get to finish, or try to finish, what I started.”
- Magic center Mohamed Bamba has struggled to make a consistent impact since entering the NBA in 2018, but he views the arrival of new head coach Jamahl Mosley as an opportunity for a fresh start, writes Julia Poe of The Orlando Sentinel. Mosley wants to see Bamba make better reads on offense and be an anchor on the defensive end.
- The Hornets officially announced Marlon Garnett, Nick Friedman and Norman Richardson as assistant coaches under head coach James Borrego in a press release. The team also promoted Jackson Simmons to head video coordinator.
- Borrego expects the Hornets to be fully vaccinated by the beginning of the season, Rod Boone of the Charlotte Observer tweets.
The 2021/22 NBA regular season will get underway in less than a month, so it’s time to start getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign and to resume an annual Hoops Rumors tradition.
With the help of the lines from a handful of sports betting sites, including Bovada and BetOnline, we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.
In 2020/21, our voters went 17-13 on their over/under picks. Can you top that in ’21/22?
As a reminder, the NBA played a 72-game schedule in 2020/21, so a team that won 41 games last year finished with a 41-31 record. This year, a club that wins 41 games would be a .500 team (41-41). For added clarity, we’ve noted the record that each team would have to achieve to finish “over” its projected win total.
We’ll turn today to the Southeast division…
Miami Heat
- 2020/21 record: 40-32
- Over/under for 2021/22: 48.5 wins (49-33)
- Major offseason moves:
Atlanta Hawks
- 2020/21 record: 41-31
- Over/under for 2021/22: 47.5 wins (48-34)
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Delon Wright, Gorgui Dieng, Jalen Johnson
- Lost: Tony Snell, Kris Dunn, Bruno Fernando, Brandon Goodwin
Charlotte Hornets
- 2020/21 record: 33-39
- Over/under for 2021/22: 38.5 wins (39-43)
- Major offseason moves:
Washington Wizards
- 2020/21 record: 34-38
- Over/under for 2021/22: 34.5 wins (35-47)
- Major offseason moves:
Orlando Magic
- 2020/21 record: 21-51
- Over/under for 2021/22: 22.5 wins (23-59)
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Jalen Suggs, Franz Wagner, Robin Lopez, E’Twaun Moore
- Lost: Otto Porter, James Ennis, Dwayne Bacon, Chasson Randle
Previous voting results:
- Brooklyn Nets (55.5 wins): Over (63.2%)
- Philadelphia 76ers (51.5 wins): Under (70.0%)
- Boston Celtics (46.5 wins): Over (58.1%)
- New York Knicks (42.5 wins): Over (65.1%)
- Toronto Raptors (36.5 wins): Under (50.6%)
- Milwaukee Bucks (54.5 wins): Over (63.7%)
- Indiana Pacers (42.5 wins): Under (58.2%)
- Chicago Bulls (42.5 wins): Over (68.3%)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (26.5 wins): Under (50.5%)
- Detroit Pistons (25.5 wins): Under (52.6%)
- Utah Jazz (52.5 wins): Over (61.7%)
- Denver Nuggets (48.5 wins): Over (69.3%)
- Portland Trail Blazers (44.5 wins): Over (53.0%)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (34.5 wins): Under (57.1%)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (23.5 wins): Under (65.0%)
- Los Angeles Lakers (52.5 wins): Over (58.2%)
- Phoenix Suns (51.5 wins): Over (58.6%)
- Golden State Warriors (48.5 wins): Over (50.3%)
- Los Angeles Clippers (43.5 wins): Over (51.2%)
- Sacramento Kings (36.5 wins): Under (66.0%)
The Hornets have officially signed free agent swingman Xavier Sneed to a contract, the team announced today in a press release.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but it seems likely to be a non-guaranteed pact that includes Exhibit 10 language. That would allow the Hornets to give Sneed a bonus worth up to $50K if he’s waived before the regular season begins and then spends at least 60 days with their G League team.
Sneed, who went undrafted out of Kansas State in 2020, signed a training camp contract with Charlotte last offseason and then was waived at the end of the preseason. He played in 13 games (23.3 MPG) for the Greensboro Swarm, the Hornets’ G League affiliate, averaging 8.1 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.8 APG, and 1.8 SPG with a .360/.279/.875 shooting line.
With the signing, Charlotte now has a full 20-man offseason roster, including 16 players with guaranteed salaries, two on Exhibit 10 deals (Sneed and D.J. Carton) and a pair on two-way contracts (Scottie Lewis and Arnoldas Kulboka).
In order to set their roster for the regular season, the Hornets will have to trade or release at least one player with a guaranteed salary, but that move doesn’t need to be completed until mid-October. However, the club also reportedly agreed to sign Cameron McGriff to an Exhibit 10 deal, so more transactions could be coming during the preseason.