Hornets ended their season how they started it — without a superstar. How to fix that
Charlotte Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak says his team is improved. Don’t confuse that with his team being good.
In a half-hour call with media Monday, Kupchak said they aren’t yet built for sustainable success and that the Hornets’ biggest need is still talent. Rather than any one position — there’s lots left to fix — and it’s too early to decide how parts fit together because there still aren’t enough parts.
“Really, it’s talent,” Kupchak said of roster needs.
“Right now I think it’s premature to sit down and say, ‘Listen, this team is a 50-win team, and where do we need the most help? Let’s try to get this team to a 55- or 57-win team.’ We’re not there right now.”
The Hornets finish this season 23-42, 10th in the Eastern Conference, with the NBA not including them in the 22-team season restart. Kupchak and coach James Borrego did career-bests: Lean toward youth in close playing-time decisions to facilitate a rebuild. Six players in their first or second season were in the rotation when the season was halted in March by the pandemic.
It’s progress that Devonte Graham, P.J. Washington and Miles Bridges are starters, and Cody and Caleb Martin are in the rotation. The Hornets have a foundation of young complementary players.
But they still lack a crucial element of competing in the NBA: There is no player who has demonstrated the potential to be the star on a team capable of a deep playoff run.
When I ask NBA scouts to describe the Hornets’ roster, there is a consensus: Starless and nondescript. Until Kupchak drafts, signs or trades for someone special, this roster has a hard ceiling on achievement.
Realism
Kupchak talks realistically about the situation. When he was asked whether Graham and Terry Rozier fit together as a backcourt or if Washington and Bridges complement each other as forwards, he said that’s not yet relevant.
“We’ve got to add talent, and then when we have talent, we can figure the rest out,” Kupchak said.
In Kupchak’s and Borrego’s first season here, I never felt they were fully committed to either pushing for the playoffs or developing young guys. Kemba Walker leaving for the Boston Celtics made the rebuild unavoidable. Kupchak uses the word “sustainable” frequently; they don’t want to revert to occasional playoff appearances that build no momentum.
“Get to a point where we can not only sustain a team that can make the playoffs,” Kupchak said, “but can advance in the playoffs.”
How does that happen for a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff round in 18 years?
Avenues
Over two seasons in Charlotte, Kupchak has drafted three starters (Graham, Washington and Bridges). His one major free-agent move, Rozier, was expensive at $57 million over three years, but he had a strong first season as a Hornet with career-bests as a scorer (18 ppg) and shooter (41 percent from 3-point range).
The Hornets finally will start an offseason with room under the salary cap. Kupchak expected to have around $28 million in cap space, based on the NBA’s projection in February of a $115 million salary cap next season. But plummeting league-wide revenue, due to the pandemic, will shrink that to a yet-to-be-determined amount.
What does Kupchak do, when the delayed offseason begins in October?
▪ Draft: The Hornets will have their own first-round pick, which could end up top-4 via the lottery, now scheduled for Aug. 25. The draft is tentatively Oct. 15. The Hornets get the Cleveland Cavaliers’ second-round pick and might get the Boston Celtics’ second-round pick. Their own second-round pick is owed to the New York Knicks.
When Kupchak said talent would trump any positional need, that most applies to the draft. He has said repeatedly he wouldn’t reach for a lesser rookie in their ratings to fill a need.
That doesn’t mean they don’t have specific needs: Borrego said in March they must improve rim-protection and add outside shooting. A wing player with varied offensive skill, such as Israel’s Deni Avdija, would make sense if he’s available.
Free-agency: Kupchak reinforced Monday something he has said since September — the Hornets never intended to be a major suitor of the 2020 free-agent class. He thinks this is too early in the rebuild to pursue what he calls “big-fish” players.
“I don’t think that right now we are a premier (free-agent) destination,” Kupchak said, “I don’t think we’re at that stage yet. I think we’re getting there.”
Kupchak is open to a smaller free-agent deal, but there is a good chance they would hold on to their cap room, knowing it would increase after the 2021-22 season, when Nic Batum’s five-year, $120 million contract expires.
Trades: One or more trades is a more likely way for Kupchak to use cap room rather than free agency. The fall in league-wide revenue could increase the value of whatever cap space the Hornets have, since more teams might be in danger of paying the NBA’s luxury tax for bloated payrolls next season.
In such a trade, the Hornets would accept a veteran contract off another roster in return for compensation, such as a future draft pick.
“You can use cap space to facilitate trades, get draft picks,” Kupchak said. “Maybe help another team, but help yourself.”
This story was originally published June 9, 2020 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Hornets ended their season how they started it — without a superstar. How to fix that."
