Hornets 'Unlikely' to Make 'Significant Moves' This Offseason
The Charlotte Hornets will look a little different next season as they will have a new head coach steering the ship. Who that coach is remains to be determined, but according to GM Mitch Kupchak, they are getting close to "narrowing things down."
After two miserable outings in the NBA Play-In tournament, a change was needed or as Kupchak says, "a new voice." Until that "new voice" gets hired, it's hard to truly project what type of players the Hornets will target via trade, free agency, or in the draft.
One thing has remained consistent, the Hornets will not be overly aggressive. Kupchak wants to build this thing organically and not start reaching for expensive veterans when this team is not ready for that sort of thing. So, no, names like Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell, or Bradley Beal are going to be at the top of the Hornets' offseason wish list. In fact, it would come as a major surprise to see Charlotte land a player of that caliber following the comments that Kupchak made last Thursday.
"The thing we have to be careful about is thinking we're better than we really are," the Hornets GM stated. "We're not a team that's going to get into the Finals. Although Atlanta got into the Conference Finals a year ago, I don't know how realistic that is. What I'd like to do with this team is I'd like to get us into the playoffs and wouldn't it be great to win a round? And then anything after that would probably be gravy. You've got to be careful that you don't make moves to try to mosey the progress along, quicker than is realistic.
"That might be bringing in veterans that really, you're not ready for. We're still looking, in my opinion, to inject talent into this team. I think our scouts have done a great job with the draft and we've got talent in the system. We have the 13th, 15th, and the 45th pick in the draft. That's not to say we'll use all of those picks in the draft, it's good currency. You can use those picks to make a trade and our roster with our free agents, it's starting to get a little cluttered too. There's a lot that goes into it. Yes, we do want to make a step in the playoffs, hopefully winning a round is realistic and we just have to be careful to not try to push too much and get ourselves in a position where we're not as good as we thought we would be."
First and foremost, the Hornets have to hire a head coach, focus on the draft, and look for ways to retain Miles Bridges. With Gordon Hayward still under contract for two more years and a big deal approaching for Bridges, the Hornets aren't going to have much salary cap space to make a franchise-changing move. Of course they could deal Hayward in a trade, but the value is probably not anywhere near what the Hornets would like for him in return.
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