2019 Southeast NBA Free Agency Primer – The under performing division
Charlotte Hornets
Situation Entering Offseason:
Everything surrounding the Hornets this offseason depends on whether Michael Jordan is willing to pay out a super max contract to the ever loyal Kemba Walker. Although the point guard stated his priority was to remain in Charlotte and was willing to take less money, recent talks seem to have shifted so much he’s now projected as a good bet to land in Boston.
In truth, the Hornets are between a rock and a hard place with the number of bloated contracts they’ve previously doled out to players who haven’t lived up to them.
The timing of Walker’s contract renegotiation couldn’t be worse as Marvin Williams and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist both opted in and Nic Batum still has two seasons remaining on his contract with next year being a player option. MJ has stated he has no desire to go into the luxury which makes retaining Walker all the more difficult, not to mention the one other reliable player Jeremy Lamb is also a free agent.
On the other hand, for as much as Kemba is a talent who consistently delivers the lack of postseason success points to him being better served as the secondary or tertiary option.
Salary:
Cap Space: $ (45,309,666.00)
Floor Space: $ 9,174,949.00
Max Space: $ 11,167,339.00
Projected Space: $ (40,059,666.00)
*as per Keith Smith of Real GM
Key free agents to re-sign:
If fans take the recent rumors at face value Kemba Walker is likely headed to Boston on a four year $141M deal.
The loss of Walker will put the Hornets in a tough situation and it’s likely they’ll need at least a year to get out from under their troubles. Even without Walker, Charlotte will have 10 players earning a cumulative $97M plus this coming season. Batum’s contract next year should he opt in ($27M+) and Cody Zeller ($15M+) will be the only significant contracts on the books next year. Aside from that Charlotte will have team options on Monk and Bridges as well as the last year of Devonte Graham’s contract and their rookies from this draft.
Either way, unless GM Mitch Kupchak can pull off some snazzy trades it feels like the coming season for the Hornets will all be about patience. Their best bet would be to develop their youthful assets and bolster them with mid-level players or more young assets to start rebuilding for the future.
2019 Roster Depth:
- Dwayne Bacon
- Nicolas Batum
- Bismack Biyombo,
- Miles Bridges
- Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
- Devonte’ Graham
- Willy Hernangómez
- Malik Monk
- Tony Parker (retired)
- Marvin Williams (formally opts in)
- Cody Zeller
Draft Picks:
- P.J. Washington
- Cody Martin
- Jalen McDaniels
2019 free agents
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Player)
Kemba Walker
Jeremy Lamb
Frank Kaminsky (Restricted)
Joe Chealey (Restricted)
JP Macura (Restricted)
Shelvin Mack
2020 free agents
Bismack Biyombo
Marvin Williams
Willy Hernangomez
Dwayne Bacon (Restricted)
Nicolas Batum (Player)