Charlotte Hornets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Roster Moves Still Required For Hornets, Spurs

October 17th, 2021 at 8:23am CST by Luke Adams

Nearly every NBA team currently has a roster in compliance with regular season limits — no more than 15 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.

[RELATED: 2021/22 NBA Roster Counts]

However, there are still a couple teams that will need to make at least one cut before Monday’s regular season roster deadline: Charlotte and San Antonio.

The Hornets are carrying 18 players — a pair on two-way contracts, plus 16 on fully guaranteed deals. One of those 16 will have to be traded or released, and while Charlotte could surprise us, Wesley Iwundu looks like the most obvious odd man out. He was included in the summer Devonte’ Graham sign-and-trade deal for salary/cap purposes, and played limited minutes for the Hornets during the preseason.

The Spurs only have 17 players, but just one is on a two-way deal, leaving 16 on guaranteed contracts. Like the Hornets, they’ll have to trade or cut one of those players by Monday. Al-Farouq Aminu is San Antonio’s equivalent of Iwundu, having been acquired in an offseason sign-and-trade (of DeMar DeRozan) for salary-matching purposes. However, his $10MM+ expiring salary could make him a useful midseason trade chip, so the Spurs may be a little more reluctant to waive him now.

Jock Landale, Keita Bates-Diop, and Drew Eubanks are other possibilities, but the Spurs just gave Landale and Bates-Diop guaranteed money earlier this offseason, and Eubanks has taken on a slightly bigger role in each of his three years in San Antonio. Aminu still appears to be the most likely release candidate, but we’ll see today or tomorrow what the Spurs have in mind.

As we explained on Saturday, while most teams completed their roster moves early, the Hornets and Spurs can afford to take an extra day or two to consider their options without any financial ramifications, since they won’t be cutting a player who has a fully non-guaranteed contract.

While Charlotte and San Antonio are the only teams that have to make moves today or tomorrow, we’ll likely see a little more roster shuffling before Monday’s deadline. Players who have been waived by one team might appeal to another club that has an open roster spot or an expendable 15th man. And some teams carrying 15 players may decide to make one more cut to get down to 14.

Additionally, seven teams still have one open two-way contract slot and may look to fill those openings before the season begins. Those clubs are the Celtics, Warriors, Lakers, Magic, Suns, Spurs, and Wizards, as our tracker shows.

Hornets Sign, Waive LiAngelo Ball

October 15th, 2021 at 11:43am CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 15: The Hornets have officially waived Ball, the team confirmed today in a press release. Barring a change of plans, it looks like his next stop will be Greensboro.

OCTOBER 14: The Hornets are signing LiAngelo Ball to a non-guaranteed contract and will waive him shortly thereafter, a source tells Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer. The team issued a press release announcing the signing.

A report earlier this week suggested that Ball would sign a general G League contract and would be entered into the NBAGL draft pool, where the Greensboro Swarm (Charlotte’s affiliate) might select him.

However, it sounds like the Hornets – and the Swarm – have decided they want to secure Ball’s G League rights directly. Signing the 6’5″ wing to an Exhibit 10 deal will do that, and will allow the team to give him a bonus worth up to $50K if he spends at least 60 days with Greensboro.

Ball, the brother of LaMelo Ball and Lonzo Ball, played for Charlotte’s Summer League team in Las Vegas and reportedly impressed members of the organization with his work ethic. He averaged 9.6 PPG on .375/.345/1.000 shooting in five games (17.4 MPG) for the Hornets in Vegas.

Hornets Waive Jalen Crutcher, Cameron McGriff

October 14th, 2021 at 2:59pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hornets have cut a pair of players from their preseason roster, announcing in a press release that Jalen Crutcher and Cameron McGriff have been placed on waivers.

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 went undrafted in 2020 after four seasons with Oklahoma State. The 6’7″ forward 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. He joined the Hornets for this year’s Summer League.

Charlotte signed Crutcher and McGriff to non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contracts less than a week ago. While Crutcher saw some action in one of the team’s preseason games, neither player was a real candidate to make the regular season roster. Both Crutcher and McGriff will likely end up playing for the Greensboro Swarm, Charlotte’s G League affiliate.

Extension Rumors: Bridges, Huerter, Shamet, A. Holiday

October 13th, 2021 at 9:36am CST by Luke Adams

The Hornets have engaged in discussions about a possible rookie scale contract extension for forward Miles Bridges, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Bridges is one of 18 players who remains eligible for a rookie extension up until the October 18 deadline.

Scotto says that some people around the NBA believe $20MM per year would be the floor for Bridges on a new deal. That’s the same price that has been frequently projected for another Bridges with a similar skill set: Mikal Bridges of the Suns.

Here are a few updates from Scotto on possible rookie scale extensions:

The Suns and sharpshooter Landry Shamet have been having ongoing conversations about a possible extension, with one source suggesting that the odds of the two sides reaching a deal are about 50-50, says Scotto. Shamet has yet to appear in a regular season game for his new team, but Phoenix had reportedly coveted him for a while.
Scotto suggests that Hawks wing Kevin Huerter could get “Joe Harris type of money,” adding that some people around the league think Huerter’s value is in the neighborhood of $18MM annually. Harris signed a four-year, $72MM contract with Brooklyn during the 2020 offseason.
The Wizards and Aaron Holiday aren’t discussing an extension, but Washington likes the 25-year-old and will likely evaluate him over the course of the 2021/22 season, according to Scotto.
Extensions for Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons and Bulls swingman Troy Brown appear unlikely, per Scotto.

And-Ones: Li. Ball, Restricted Free Agency, 2022 Draft, Floyd

October 12th, 2021 at 11:16am CST by Luke Adams

LiAngelo Ball, the brother of NBA guards LaMelo Ball and Lonzo Ball, is signing a G League contract and will enter the October 23 NBAGL draft, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

LiAngelo played for the Hornets in the Las Vegas Summer League, and Charania suggests he’s a candidate to be selected by the Greensboro Swarm – Charlotte’s G League affiliate – in the NBAGL draft. However, if the Hornets were prioritizing Ball for a spot on their G League squad, they’d likely sign him to an Exhibit 10 contract in order to make him an affiliate player.

As John Hollinger of The Athletic tweets, the G League draft isn’t expected to be packed with talent, so Ball has a good chance of coming off the board in the top 10 or 20 picks.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz of ESPN (Insider link) have updated their top-100 list for the 2022 NBA draft. Within the article, Schmitz identifies French center Ismael Kamagate as the international prospect who is “making the most noise” early in the season. Kamagate is the No. 36 player on ESPN’s 2022 big board.
In an interesting piece for HoopsHype, Michael Scotto spoke with a handful of agents and team executives about how restricted free agency works behind the scenes. One agent suggested that restricted free agency is “not really free agency,” since rival teams are so reluctant to sign players to offer sheets that tie up cap space for several days at the start of the league year and may just end up being matched.
The Bucks (No. 2), Heat (No. 5), Suns (No. 6), Warriors (No. 7), and Hawks (No. 11) are among the biggest risers in ESPN’s latest installment of “future” power rankings from Kevin Pelton, Bobby Marks, Andre’ Snellings, and Tim Bontemps (Insider link). For a second consecutive year, the Nets rank first and the Cavaliers are dead-last on ESPN’s list, which is essentially designed to be power rankings that cover the next three seasons.
Free agent guard Jordan Floyd, who was on the Lakers’ Summer League roster, is signing with Kolossos H Hotels in Greece on a deal that includes an NBA out, a source told our JD Shaw (Twitter link).

Caleb, Cody Martin Set To Collide On Monday

October 10th, 2021 at 6:43pm CST by JD Shaw

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.

Rozier Sprains Ankle; Hayward And Plumlee Out

October 10th, 2021 at 2:39pm CST by Rory Maher

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.

Hornets Sign Jalen Crutcher, Cameron McGriff

October 8th, 2021 at 3:20pm CST by Luke Adams

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.

Hornets Waive D.J. Carton, Xavier Sneed

October 8th, 2021 at 11:25am CST by Luke Adams

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 Healthy; Miles Bridges In Starting Five

October 6th, 2021 at 8:41am CST by Luke Adams

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.