Why new Charlotte Hornets GM Mitch Kupchak says he's undecided on rebuilding team

What we learned at Mitch Kupchak’s introductory news conference as Charlotte Hornets president of basketball operations and general manager.

He hasn’t decided if a rebuild is necessary

“I don’t know the ins and outs much. I don’t know if that is the right word or not. To sit here and say this is a team that needs to be rebuilt, I don’t know if that’s fair.”

He stayed close to both the NBA and college game

“A lot of NBA games – in California, they come on at 4 o’clock. I went to a lot of college games, and watched a lot of college games (on TV). If I had to guess, college games in person, at least 30, and pro games all the time. It’s a game that I love. I enjoy doing it.”

He values analytics, but not over instinct

“Gut instinct has been a big part of talent evaluation: watching the player, watching the player walking to the bench, how he interacts with the coach. Scouting games in person. Those things are the biggest. Over the last 15 years, with the introduction of cameras on top of each building basically like GPS, it’s created a whole new form of data. That creates so much data every night; data uploaded every night and you have to have people to evaluate that data. That’s how the business has really changed.

“Every GM is different (as far as) confirming your instincts as a GM. If it ever was a tie I’d always go to my instincts. Might be 70-30 or 60-40.”

He values talent above need

“If we’re picking around 10 or 11, you would almost always go with the best player. If it was close, you might go with position. But you can always trade players if you have duplication.”

He doesn’t feel pressure to trade Kemba Walker

“I don’t think (his distaste for losing is) something to overreact to. I want a player who doesn’t want to lose. That’s a good thing. I’m aware of (Walker’s comments). Over the next several days, I will have player interviews. My understanding is he has another year under contract. It’s clearly a very favorable contract (for the team, at $12 million), but he’s going to be just fine going forward. I’m very aware of his talent. From what I hear, he’s great in the locker room and great in the community. I don’t know why you wouldn’t want that going forward.”

He hasn’t made a call on coach Steve Clifford

“I just got the job two days ago. I flew in last night. Just getting familiar with the building. I haven’t gotten up to speed.

“Steve worked for us as an assistant in Los Angeles. That’s how I got to know him. I felt he would get an opportunity to be a head coach soon. I was impressed. My feeling was that he was head-coaching material.”

He thinks small-market teams aren’t at a huge disadvantage

“The rules over the last few years have changed. It doesn’t favor the small-market teams, but it levels the playing field. It’s almost the same.”

He doesn’t expect autonomy in decisions

“I report to Michael (Jordan). I’m sure I’ll have an opinion. I’ll seek out his opinion. I know he watches games, I know he’s a fan of college basketball. There may be times when he says, “We may not see eye-to-eye and you do what you think is best.” Or he might say, “We don’t see eye-to-eye” (so they’re going to do it Jordan’s way).

This story was originally published April 10, 2018 at 3:22 PM with the headline "Why new Charlotte Hornets GM Mitch Kupchak says he's undecided on rebuilding team."