Takeaways from Mitch Kupchak’s Hornets.com interview

Near the end of an interview with Charlotte Hornets broadcaster John Focke that was posted to the team’s website earlier this week, general manager Mitch Kupchak said that he “wouldn’t get caught up on a single word,” if he were a fan, when asked about the team "rebuilding."

That word – rebuilding – has become taboo for the Hornets in their first year without former franchise centerpiece Kemba Walker. But Kupchak is hooked on a different word that means sort of the same thing: transition.

The word was said five times over the interview, which lasted a little more than five minutes.

Transition sounds a little bit cleaner and appealing to fans on the outside looking in. You’re just moving onto the next thing, whereas rebuilding seems like you’re blowing something up and making something else that's new on top of the mess. The Hornets didn’t exactly do that in the off-season. They let Kemba walk, they brought in Terry Rozier and they made a few other additions through the draft and free agency. Really, the Hornets weren’t capable of blowing things up this year because of some big contracts on their books that are unwanted by potential trade partners. Kupchak talked about creating “financial flexibility moving forward” for trades and free agency, but added: “Right now, we don’t have too much of that.”

“With Kemba gone now, what we’re really trying to do is set ourselves up for a long-term, sustainable success,” Kupchak said in the interview. “… We are starting anew and fresh this season with a different approach than we did the last couple of seasons for obvious reasons.”

Here’s a bit more of what Kupchak said:

Kupchak: “A lot of the veteran players that the city of Charlotte is familiar with are still going to be here. You know, Cody and Nic and MKG and Marvin, they’re still going to be here. They’re still going to be a part of the team and they’re still going to play minutes. Having said that, we are going to transition and continue on the growth and the building that I think the people saw last year at the end of the season, whereas we went young for the last month or so of the season, played a fun brand of basketball that was fun to watch and exciting, and in fact we played our best basketball of the year last year for the last month of the season. So, we’re transitioning into that style of play.”

Thoughts: This is Kupchak acknowledging the veterans. But while these players are still serviceable, they likely won’t be part of the Hornets plans going forward.

Kidd-Gilchrist and Marvin Williams are both entering their final seasons of expiring contracts, and their deals plus Bismack Biyombo’s (also expiring this season) will wipe $45 million off the books for the Hornets this summer, creating some of that financial flexibility that Kupchak talked about. Kidd-Gilchrist is 26 and will be looking for pay-day. At 33, Williams might be willing to take lower than what he’s worth to play with a contender. Biyombo is a decent rebounder and shot-blocker, but not much else. He won’t be worth overpaying for.

Batum has a player-option for $27 million this upcoming off-season, and it would be a stunner if he didn’t exercise it. The 30-year-old had arguably one of the worst seasons of his career last year, but showed spurts of his old self in the FIBA World Cup this summer. If he can return to top form, great. If not, well, Charlotte has to pay him, but that doesn’t mean they have to play him.

Like Batum, Zeller is on the books through at least the summer of 2021. His biggest concern though has been health. He’s played more than 62 games in a season just twice in his six-year career, and has played less than 50 games in each of the past two seasons. When healthy, Zeller is an effective big man who can rebound and score in the post. If he can avoid injuries, there’s a chance he could stick around for another contract.

With all of the veterans, playing time isn’t guaranteed this season. The players making the most money likely won’t be leading in minutes played.

Kupchak: “Of course, our goal going forward is always to win games, but we’re most concerned with our culture of playing hard, playing the right way and playing an entertaining brand of basketball, developing our young players so, you know, that we can continue to grow as an organization.”

Thoughts: This one seems pretty straight forward. Winning is simply not a priority this year. The goal is to establish a culture and style, develop the young players and see what you have in them. Are they assets? Can you build around them? Could one or two become an all-star? Does one need to play in the G-League? Is it time to move on from one? This is what the Hornets will be figuring out this season while they’re strapped for cash and have a roster full of promising, but unproven talents.

Kupchak: “Terry is a young, ball-handling guard. We’re hoping now that, as our lead guard, he can take a step to really advance his game and fit into our young core here in Charlotte.”

Thoughts: While Rozier is 25 years-old, Kupchak sees him as part of the core, as part of the transition and as part of the youth movement. While Miles Bridges, Dwayne Bacon, Malik Monk and P.J. Washington rotate around and find their fits, this is the Hornets’ starting point guard. Kupchak also pointed out that Rozier had to play behind two all-stars – Isaiah Thomas and Kyrie Irving – in Boston. With a defined starting role, he’s hoping Rozier pans out to be worth the $56.7 million investment.