D'Angelo Russell to Charlotte?
For some unknown reason, the Charlotte Hornets are listed as the favorite to land soon-to-be free agent guard D'Angelo Russell.
According to BetOnline, the Hornets have the shortest odds to sign Russell at +300 followed by the Hawks (+400), Grizzlies (+500), Mavericks (+600), Heat (+700), Spurs (+800), Raptors (+900), Magic (+1000), Knicks (+1000), and Bulls (+1200).
To be completely forthright, I have no idea why the Hornets are listed at the top. It makes no sense. Charlotte has the No. 2 overall pick in the draft and could very likely spend that selection on fellow guard, Scoot Henderson. Even if Charlotte opts to go with Brandon Miller, I don't see a world in which Russell is a Hornet.
General Manager Mitch Kupchak has remained consistent in his approach to free agency and that's to not spend big dollars.
"It's always great to have cap room. I guess we could pursue marquee free agents. But the reality is our winning percentage in that pursuit might not be as high as it might be for others. So I've always felt with our team, our success is going to be through the draft and maybe making a savvy trade if we can. And then maybe one day we can get to the point where maybe a marquee free agent would look at our team and we're winning a bunch of games and they might say, hey, that's a place where I want to go. But right now, I don't think that's realistic. So we got to do it through the draft primarily."
We can debate whether or not Russell is a "marquee" free agent but regardless of what you define him as it's not someone I would expect the Hornets to actually pursue. Anything is possible, of course. But I would imagine Charlotte is more interested in bringing back Dennis Smith Jr. who is not only cheaper but is more consistent on the defensive end of the floor.
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