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Hornets Notes: Clifford, Bacon, Zeller, Batum

March 28th, 2018 at 8:33pm CST by clarkcrum

The Hornets have already announced that general manager Rich Cho won’t have his contract renewed after this season, and according to Tom Sorensen of The Charlotte Observer, head coach Steve Clifford probably shouldn’t be retained either.

Despite being one of the best coaches that the city of Charlotte has ever had – in Sorensen’s eyes – Sorensen wonders whether the team has reached a point where the players have stopped listening to Clifford and his message.

The Hornets have been one of the most disappointing teams in the NBA this year. The team was widely expected to compete for a playoff spot, but have been out of the hunt for much of the season, currently sporting a record of 34-41 with seven games remaining after finishing with a similarly disappointing record last season at 36-46.

There’s more out of Charlotte from Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer:

The Hornets selected Malik Monk with the 11th overall pick in last year’s draft, with expectations that Monk could come in and help the team this season. However, the Charlotte rookie who has probably ended up having the best season is second-round pick Dwayne Bacon, the 40th overall selection. With that in mind, Bonnell analyzes whether Bacon could end up being the better catch.
Hornets big man Cody Zeller missed his 10th consecutive game tonight against the Cavs, leaving Bonnell to wonder whether Zeller may be done for the season. Zeller, who thought he might be ready to play in Dallas on Saturday, said his injured left knee had begun to swell again after he tested it.
Part of the Hornets’ problem is a high payroll for next season, leaving the team with few options to improve upon its current roster. One albatross of a contract is that of Nicolas Batum, who is scheduled to make $24MM next season. In a mailbag piece, Bonnell answers some readers’ questions regarding Batum and his contract, among others.

Southeast Notes: Wade, Zeller, Wilkins, Magic

February 3rd, 2018 at 10:15am CST by marksuleymanov

Dwyane Wade spent his first 13 seasons as a member of the Heat and he wants to finish his career with the organization. Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel writes that Wade, who is currently with the Cavaliers, wants to find a way back to South Beach before retirement.

“I have thought about it, of course. I wouldn’t lie and say I haven’t,” Wade said to Winderman of possibly rejoining the Heat. “When that opportunity comes, that day comes, hopefully, I can go out in a Miami Heat jersey. I don’t know how it will be, but I would love it.”

Wade, who recently turned 36, is enjoying a solid season off the bench for Cleveland, averaging 11.2 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 3.7 APG in 44 games. The Heat are in the midst of a strong season, sitting in fifth place in the Eastern Conference with a 29-23 record. Wade said he has followed the team since his departure and is proud of how the team has meshed together to find success.

Ideally, Wade would finish his playing career with one final season in a Heat uniform. However, it is possible for Wade to sign a one-day ceremonial contract — similar to Paul Pierce with the Celtics — and officially retire as a member of the Heat.

Check out other news from the Southeast Division:

Cody Zeller made his return on Friday after missing 21 games with torn left meniscus, providing a jolt for the Hornets. Brendan Marks of the Charlotte Observer writes that while it’s too early to tell how well Zeller has recovered, he could play a pivotal role as the Hornets make a playoff push.
The Hornets’ G-League affiliate Greensboro Swarm announced that 10-year NBA veteran Damien Wilkins has joined the team. Wilkins started the year with the Pacers and now returns to the Swarm, a team he appeared in 48 games with last season.
Magic general manager John Hammond does not characterize the 15-35 as sellers but acknowledged any moves Orlando makes at the deadline are with the future in mind, John Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel writes.

Injury Notes: Zeller, Dunn, Lydon

January 26th, 2018 at 5:57pm CST by Austin Kent

The Hornets are expected to get Cody Zeller involved in team scrimmages in a matter of days Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes. The forward has been sidelined since undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in mid-December.

Zeller was a critical piece of the Hornets’ rotation before his injury and will look to settle back into his new role of manning the backup center position behind Dwight Howard as soon as he’s cleared to do so.

In 19 games of action for the Hornets, Zeller has averaged 7.2 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. His return will be much appreciated by a team that’s struggled mightily in the first half of 2017/18.

There are other injury updates to report on this evening:

Rookie forward Tyler Lydon will miss four months of action after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports. The Nuggets revealed in a press release that Lydon went under the knife after an injury sustained on assignment in the G League.
We wrote last week that Bulls guard Kris Dunn was out indefinitely after entering the NBA’s concussion protocol. This week, Nick Friedell of ESPN writes that the guard’s symptoms haven’t changed much. Dun, who still suffers headaches, will take the comeback process slow and be out a while longer.
Pistons big man Jon Leuer underwent successful surgery on his left ankle and will miss the remainder of the 2017/18 campaign, Rod Beard of The Detroit News tweets. Leuer now faces a four-month recovery process.

Southeast Notes: Heat Injuries, Hornets, Isaac

December 15th, 2017 at 8:40pm CST by Austin Kent

The Heat have dealt with a plethora of injuries this season but, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes, the team is slowly but surely making progress. Hassan Whiteside, for example, has started doing on-court work for the first time since being sidelined eight games ago.

While there’s still no timetable for Whiteside’s return, Heat fans can take solace in the fact that head coach Erik Spoelstra seems convinced that Rodney McGruder will return to the court by the end of the season.

“I will not answer [in more detail] because he will read it and take it as major progress and then start banging on my door and say I’m ready to play,” the Heat coach said. “He’s out of the boot and doing more work, all non-impact at this point.”

Finally, there was hope that Justise Winslow would be able to return within the week for the Heat. The forward received optimistic MRI results after injuring his knee on Wednesday. Spoelstra, however, pumped the brakes on that one saying that he wouldn’t commit to that timetable. Winslow is currently limited to bicycle and pool work.

There’s more out of the Southeast Division tonight:

The Hornets have the pieces to turn their disappointing season around, but injuries and a lack of discipline have prevented them from doing so, Tom Sorensen of the Charlotte Observer opines.
The Magic could soon welcome rookie Jonathan Isaac back to the lineup, John Denton of Orlando’s official site writes. The forward has been out of action for over a month with a sprained ankle. Head coach Frank Vogel said that a return could be coming in the “near future.”
As we wrote earlier this week, the Hornets will be without Cody Zeller for much longer than they’d like but, as HoopsHype’s Bryan Kalbrosky writes, there are several free agents who could possibly step in to at least partially fill the vacancy, including former Bobcats big man Emeka Okafor.

Cody Zeller To Undergo Surgery, Miss Six Weeks

December 11th, 2017 at 5:02pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Hornets center Cody Zeller will undergo surgery to repair torn meniscus in his left knee on Tuesday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets, citing league sources. Zeller is expected to miss six weeks, Wojnarowski adds.

Zeller injured the knee last week against the Warriors. Zeller was relegated a second-unit role this season with the addition of Dwight Howard but had been productive, averaging 7.2 PPG and 5.5 RPG. In his absence, Frank Kaminsky and Johnny O’Bryant will likely share minutes behind Howard. Kaminsky has missed two games with an ankle sprain but is expected to play Monday.

Zeller, 25, has long-term security but it remains to be seen whether the knee injury will have a lingering effect. He’s making $12.6MM this season and his contract runs through the 2020/21 season.

If the Hornets want to add a big man, they could sign a free agent to a pro-rated, non-guaranteed minimum deal and remain below the luxury tax line, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets. The Hornets have a roster spot open and are $1.8MM below the tax line, Marks notes.

Cody Zeller Out Indefinitely With Torn Meniscus

December 7th, 2017 at 7:31pm CST by Austin Kent

The Hornets will be without Cody Zeller indefinitely as the 25-year-old explores treatment options for a torn meniscus, the team announced in a press release. Zeller injured his left knee in Charlotte’s Wednesday night loss to the Warriors.

Zeller has seen his role reduced in 2017/18 thanks to the team’s acquisition of Dwight Howard, but he has been a pivotal part of the Hornets’ second unit. In 19.9 minutes per game so far this season, Zeller is averaged 7.2 points and 5.5 rebounds.

It’s not clear at this point whether Zeller will elect to go under the knife, but that surgery decision could impact his recovery time. Torn meniscus surgeries ended the 2016/17 campaigns of both Joel Embiid and Derrick Rose last spring.

In the meantime, Charlotte will rely more heavily on Howard with Zeller’s fellow reserve Frank Kaminsky hobbled by an injury of his own.

Southeast Notes: Wizards, Zeller, Hezonja

October 12th, 2017 at 11:31am CST by Luke Adams

The battle for the Wizards‘ final regular season roster spot figures to come down to Donald Sloan and Carrick Felix, and head coach Scott Brooks calls it one of the “toughest” roster decisions he’s had to make in recent years, writes Candace Buckner of The Washington Post. The decision may ultimately come down to what sort of player the Wizards want to keep around, since Sloan, a veteran point guard, and Felix, an athletic swingman, would play different roles.

In theory, the Wizards could keep both players on the roster. The team only has 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, leaving two openings. However, a 14th player – Sheldon Mac – has been ruled out for most or all of the season with a torn Achilles, and Washington will be on the hook for his salary until he recovers, whether or not he’s on the roster. By waiving him and keeping both Sloan and Felix, the Wizards would essentially be paying 16 players, an undesirable outcome for a club already well over the luxury-tax line.

Here’s more from around the Southeast division:

Having signed a new four-year extension with the Heat this offseason, Josh Richardson is now determined to bounce back from an injury-plagued 2016/17 season, as Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel writes.
The offseason arrival of Dwight Howard supplanted Cody Zeller from the starting lineup, but the Hornets‘ backup center remains valuable to the team as he enters the first year of a new contract. Sam Perley of Hornets.com has the story on Zeller.
Mario Hezonja, 2015’s fifth overall pick, took a step backward during his second NBA season last year. However, he has been solid in the preseason as he looks to cement a role in the Magic‘s rotation, says John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com.
Backup Hawks point guard Malcolm Delaney spoke to Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype about making the leap to the NBA last year, his decision to join the Hawks, and his expectations for Atlanta in 2017/18. “With our system and the way we move the ball, we could surprise a lot of people,” Delaney said. “My goal is always going to be to win. I don’t believe in rebuilding. I certainly don’t believe in tanking. I’m going out to win every game because this is my contract year and I’ve gotten to this point because of winning.”

Southeast Notes: Hornets, Wizards, Jordan

September 29th, 2017 at 4:35pm CST by Austin Kent

The Hornets struggled to keep leads when their starters – particularly Kemba Walker and Cody Zeller – were on the bench last season. The question ahead of 2017/18 then, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer asks, is whether or not that will change this season.

Gone are all of Walker’s and Zeller’s backups, a veritable laundry list of players from Ramon Sessions, Brian Roberts and Briante Weber to Spencer Hawes, Roy Hibbert and Miles Plumlee. In their place are Michael Carter-Williams and Dwight Howard, both of whom were attained by the Hornets at relative bargains over the summer.

Of course the addition of Carter-Williams will provide size and defense to the Hornets’ second unit but the real draw is Howard, not because of what he’ll add off the bench but because of what his addition to the starting lineup entails.

As we’ve already written, head coach Steve Clifford has already committed to starting Howard when the season begins, that means Zeller himself will be able to work directly with the Hornets’ second unit to help do for them what he did for the starting five in 2016/17.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

The Wizards will have a number of players to replace Markieff Morris with when the season tips off. The forward is currently expected to miss six to eight weeks with a sports hernia. “We have versatility and we have depth. We can go in many different directions. We can go small. We can throw Kelly Oubre]in there. We can throw Jason Smith in there. Mike Scott we can put in there. There’s a lot of players that we can throw into the mix,” head coach Scott Brooks told Chase Hughes of CSN Mid-Atlantic.
Hornets majority owner Michael Jordan will soon have a stake in another professional sports franchise. Jordan is part of Derek Jeter‘s group that has been approved to buy the Miami Marlins, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer writes.
Only time will tell how Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer and new general manager Travis Schlenk mesh over the next few years but the dynamic between the two could be worth watching as the organization’s priorities shift from winning ball games to developing for the future. Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that Budenholzer will embrace the rebuild, whether that’s his preference or not.

Hornets Notes: Monk, Lamb, Batum, Howard

September 17th, 2017 at 3:50pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Hornets’ choices for backup point guards were influenced by the drafting of Malik Monk in the first round, writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. In a mailbag column, Bonnell states that because Monk is an undersized shooting guard with defensive limitations, the team needed larger point guards to pair with him who are better at stopping opponents. That’s why they signed Michael Carter-Williams and Julyan Stone, both 6’6″, when other options were available.

Another factor was cost, as Charlotte was concerned about staying under the luxury tax threshold of about $119MM and was financially limited after trading for Dwight Howard‘s $23.5MM salary. Carter-Williams agreed to a one-year, $2.7MM deal in July, while Stone accepted a minimum-salary contract in August after negotiating a release from his team in Italy.

Bonnell offers more insight into the Hornets:

Monk should be fully recovered from a sprained left ankle that caused him to miss the Orlando Summer League. The 11th overall pick suffered the injury during a draft workout and was sidelined for several weeks, which coach Steve Clifford said affected his conditioning. Monk probably won’t see a lot of playing time early in the season, Bonnell writes, but he should be fully healthy for the team’s October 18 opener.
Jeremy Lamb has impressed the coaching staff with his work this offseason, but he’s not a threat to take Nicolas Batum‘s starting job. Lamb has been a valuable reserve during his two seasons in Charlotte, and Bonnell says the team needs Batum’s playmaking skills and overall versatility in the starting lineup.
The roles of the big men haven’t been firmly established heading into camp. Howard is expected to start at center with Marvin Williams at power forward, but Cody Zeller and Frank Kaminsky could both make a push for more playing time. Howard’s reputation as a poor free throw shooter could limit his fourth quarter minutes, just as it did in Atlanta, with Zeller getting more use late in games.

Southeast Notes: Beal, Monk, Collins

September 10th, 2017 at 4:15pm CST by Austin Kent

A number of developments in Bradley Beal‘s game could help the Wizards two-guard earn his first career All-Star berth, Chase Hughes of CSN Mid-Atlantic writes. Last year, for instance, the guard managed to stay healthy after missing considerable time the previous two seasons and looked to gain confidence attacking the basket as a result.

In 2017/18, with last year to reflect back on, Beal could ride that confidence to a new level. Another component that contributed to Beal’s success last season was his improved ball handling. If that continues, the swingman will be able to slash more competently and maybe even drive up his free-throw attempts as Wizards teammate John Wall has done.

Beal watched his average jump from 17.4 points per game to 23.1 last year and there’s no reason to believe that he can’t continue to thrive heading forward. Still just 24 years old, Beal represents a major part of the core that Wizards owner Ted Leonsis is so eager to keep together.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

The ankle injury that kept Hornets rookie Malik Monk out of summer league is still “significant” and could even limit his availability at the start of the season, Dane Carbaugh of NBC Sports writes. In the article, Carbaugh cites two Steve Clifford quotes that Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer reported via Twitter. Monk, who was initially said to be out 2-4 weeks, is still regaining his conditioning and recently struggled with a relatively lightweight optional workout.
After ten consecutive playoff appearances, the Hawks have handed the reins of the team over to their young players, Shaun Powell of NBA.com writes. With little established competition on the team’s depth chart, rookie John Collins could find a way to produce in Year 1.
The Hornets have every intention of keeping Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in the starting lineup, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer writes. The only tweak to Steve Clifford‘s starting five will be the addition of Dwight Howard in place of Cody Zeller.