Charlotte Hornets Off-Season Grade
Off the court Charlotte have seen monumental change with Michael Jordan selling the team. However. on the court it was rather an uneventful off-season, but they still have made some key moves that are important. In Kupchak's tenure the Hornets have rarely been active in free agency, choosing to focus more on building through the draft. Let's review the off-season moves for the Hornets and give a grade for each, along with an overall off-season grade.
NBA DRAFT
The Hornets had some luck in the draft lottery to move up to No. 2 in the NBA Draft and select Brandon Miller. There was a lot of question and debate if Miller was the right pick over Scoot Henderson, the answer for that might not be clear until a few seasons have passed. What we do know is that Miller is a talented player and will be a key piece of the Hornets future and franchise.
The Hornets then selected Nick Smith Jr with the 27th pick in the NBA Draft. Smith Jr has showed some flashes in NBA Summer League which made him the consensus number one ranked high school project going into his freshman year at Arkansas. Smith Jr had a 33-point game against the Portland Trail Blazers in the Summer League where he showed his ability to shoot and create for himself. Smith Jr was once a projected lottery pick, until his knee injury at Arkansas. From what we have seen so far Smith Jr looks to be a good value pick with Charlotte fans should be excited about.
In the second round Kupchak traded two early second round picks to select James Nnaji 31st overall and Amari Bailey 41st. Charlotte's recent success drafting in the second round has been a strength of this front office. Devonte Graham, Jalen McDaniels, Cody Martin, Nick Richards, Bryce McGowens, and JT Thor. All of those players have emerged or project as solid rotational players.
James Nnaji was the 5th youngest player in the 2023 draft, considering he had never played in the USA and is still learning the language he looked more comfortable than most would have thought. At just 19 years old, he has potential due to his size, athleticism and ability to guard in space combined with a fantastic rebounding motor. Nnaji will stay overseas for now with Barcelona, but looks to be a ready made center if Richards/Williams were to be moved in the future.
Amari Bailey was a solid gamble in the middle of the second round. Charlotte continued to draft young by selecting another freshman. In Summer League he popped as one of Charlotte's better players down to his rim pressure, this earned him a two-way contract with the Hornets. Bailey will spend most of the time in Greensboro this season, but there is definitely promise. Bailey can get to his spots and has the ability to slash to the rim, whenever he wants.
GRADE: B+
LaMelo Ball Extension
One of the most important things the Hornets needed to get done this summer was not only extend LaMelo Ball, but give him the keys to the franchise for years to come. The Hornets did both, as well, in the deal LaMelo doesn't have any player options in all five years of his deal. It's a huge positive that the Hornets didn't waste any time to extend their franchise player. At just 22-years-old Ball is still young by NBA standards and has his best days ahead of him, despite already winning Rookie of the Year and becoming an NBA All-Star in his first three seasons. Believers must have faith that Ball is not injury prone as his first few years would suggest as he is yet to stay healthy for a full season.
The Hornets have their franchise point guard locked up for the next five seasons six seasons. Despite a lot of external noise and speculation suggesting Ball might take the qualifying offer to "Leave" Charlotte early, this was proved to be inaccurate speculation.
Grade: A+
Miles Bridges Re-signing
The Miles Bridges re-signing wasn't the contract most people had anticipated, but both sides were able to get it done. Many expected Charlotte and Bridges to agree on a multiyear deal, but were caught off-guard by Bridges signing the one-year qualifying offer for $7.9 million. However, reflecting now you can understand it makes some sense for both sides. For Bridges it's a "Prove it" year, the Hornets aren't going to commit long term until he stays out of trouble and reaches the same level as the 21-22 season. For Bridges, he clearly has confidence in playing himself into more money than Charlotte were offering and can field multiple offers next off-season.
Some people were unsure on bringing back Bridges to the team, but it wouldn't have been a smart basketball decision to let Miles Bridges walk for nothing. If the Hornets are putting the success of the team as their first priority, re-signing Miles Bridges was the first step. LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges are know to be close friends, that likely factored into the decision for Hornets management.
Grade: B
PJ Washington re-signing
It was a long and drawn out process with PJ Washington and the Hornets. However, the deal eventually got done and it couldn't have worked out better. Washington's three year, $48 million dollar deal is a fair deal for both sides. Washington wanted an annual salary around $20 million, but teams in free agency did not value him at that value.
PJ Washington is an important piece to the Hornets roster, as he brings interior defense and perimeter shooting to the team, along with being a pick-and-roll threat. The Hornets could've caved to the pressure and overpaid Washington like past mistakes, but they didn't and seemingly worked out a team friendly deal.
Grade: A
Frank Ntilikina/RJ Hunter: These moves by the Hornets were questionable. The backup point guard position was one of the biggest needs for the team after the loss of Dennis Smith Jr. Ntilikina could fit into the Steve Clifford defensive gameplan, but offensively he can't provide and isn't the ball handler this team needs which is a concern.
The RJ Hunter pickup was interesting, especially since Hunter has not played in an NBA game since the 2018-2019 season, where he appeared in just one game. In fact, Hunter has only appeared in 45 games in his career since the 2015-2016 season.
Both contracts are non-guaranteed for Hunter and Ntilikina, but so far the fringes of the roster seem like a weakness. The Hornets could still add another guard to the roster, but this is what they have currently.
Grade: D+
Overall Off-Season Grade: B-
The Hornets had a solid off-season, although largely predictable they maintained financial flexibility moving forwards by not overpaying free agents. However, two of the biggest needs for the Hornets (Backup point-guard/veteran) at this point have yet to be addressed. It feels like Charlotte took the safe route this off-season largely "Running it back" outside of the draft editions.
The Hornets hoped to add a true veteran to the roster as mentioned previously by Mitch Kupchak. It's disappointing that this hasn't been achieved as this team has had more off-court issues than you would like, signalling the team culture might not be where it needs to be. Most teams have at least one key veteran that every young guy can learn or grow from, the Hornets are relying on existing vets Hayward and Rozier to fill this role who can only do so much.
Some of the key positives of the off-season was extending LaMelo Ball for the next five seasons, along with bringing back Bridges and Washington to the roster. The NBA Draft appears to be a success as well, with several prospects who could work their way into being part of the team's young core.
The Hornets certainly got better this off-season, but the question is, was it enough for the Hornets to break their playoff drought this season?
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