Why the Hornets not making a deadline trade was the biggest investment in their rebuild
With the NBA trade deadline passing Thursday without a move by the Charlotte Hornets, here’s what counts most the next few months:
▪ The rotation coach James Borrego used in Houston on Tuesday — four high-priced veterans outside the playing group — figures to be the norm going forward.
▪ The Hornets will have an abundance of salary cap room next summer — $25 million or more — once contracts for Bismack Biyombo, Marvin Williams and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist expire July 1.
Hornets management doesn’t use the word “rebuild,” but to call this process anything else is silly. This was the only sensible path once they didn’t pay what it would take to re-sign All-Star Kemba Walker. What Borrego did in Houston by starting second-round rookie Cody Martin and directing all the minutes to younger guys makes sense the remaining 30-some games.
I asked Borrego how much Tuesday’s rotation reflects Charlotte’s path.
“The plan all along has been to play the young guys. I think for the most part, we’ve stuck to that plan,” Borrego replied. “There are (young) guys we’re leaning on a little bit more now, minutes-wise.
“The goal now is to get these young guys experience. The more the better. ... There is nothing like game-time action.”
I don’t think that means you’ll never see Wiliams, Batum or Biyombo play. But Borrego is all-in on maximizing experience for Martin, Malik Monk and Dwayne Bacon, (in addition to starters Devonte Graham, P.J. Washington and Miles Bridges) over using the veterans in discretionary minutes.
Which makes me wonder if we will see one or more buyouts of veteran contracts. I could certainly see Kidd-Gilchrist, who has played in only 12 games this season, desiring his release to try to sign elsewhere. The Dallas Mavericks have some interest in adding a defender of Kidd-Gilchrist’s type.
Buyouts are usually player-driven, rather than team-driven. Kidd-Gilchrist would have to give up some portion, probably small, of this season’s $13 million guaranteed contract in return for being released. I don’t know that a buyout makes as much sense for Williams or Biyombo, who have played more this season, but that’s always possible.
Youth movement
Martin, drafted 36th overall in June, got a season-high 36 minutes in Houston in his first NBA start, responding with 12 points and five rebounds. Investing minutes in him the rest of the season seems wise.
Borrego has also played center Willy Hernangomez lately, instead of Biyombo, and used rookie Washington some at center against the Rockets. Expect that sort of experimentation to continue. It’s not as if there is a playoff spot at stake.
This is about development, but it’s also about evaluation. For instance, Hernangomez and Bacon become free agents after this season. General manager Mitch Kupchak must decide if it’s worth re-signing either of them, and at what cost.
Cap room
By not making any trades before the deadline, Kupchak sent an implicit message about the value of cap room. The Hornets are finally close to being significantly under the cap for the first time in years.
Kupchak inherited a cap mess when he replaced Rich Cho in the spring of 2018. The Hornets have a lot of good (but nothing special) veterans on expensive contracts. They are finally close to emerging from that predicament, and will get all the more flexibility after next season when Nicolas Batum’s five-year, $120 million contract expires.
Kupchak told the Observer in September that he does not anticipate the Hornets being a major player in the 2020 free-agent market; that it will be too soon in this makeover to be attractive to free agents who could make a big difference.
Instead, Kupchak envisions using cap space to retain young talent and look for trades. That could be adding young veterans, or accepting a veteran contract in return for a future draft pick or two.
Kupchak’s wariness about quick fixes is valid; the Hornets don’t need more costly misadventures, like when they signed Lance Stephenson or traded for Dwight Howard.
Still, a caution: Cap space is an asset only to the extent it can be utilized. A lot of teams have gone into summers full of cap space, only to find no constructive way to use it.
This course makes sense in theory. But in the end, it will work only to the extent Kupchak can execute.
