Hornets owner Michael Jordan is ’100 percent on board’ with Charlotte’s rebuild, GM said
Trust the draft, don’t spend salary-cap room frivolously and see value in small developmental victories.
Most importantly, don’t stray from the plan for sustainable success.
That’s how general manager Mitch Kupchak described the Charlotte Hornets’ course at mid-season in an interview with the Observer and one other local media outlet Wednesday. In a 40-minute meeting, Kupchak covered a lot of ground. He even used the word “rebuild,” a term he avoided the past few months despite it being the obvious description of what the Hornets are doing.
A quick overview of what Kupchak said:
On salary cap space
In July, the Hornets should have abundant room under the salary cap — projected at $115 million per team — for the first time since Kupchak took over in the spring of 2018. The number is a ballpark figure, because of cap holds on free agents and the cost of draft picks, but it looks like the Hornets would have a minimum of $28 million in cap space.
As he said before the season, Kupchak doesn’t anticipate chasing star free agents. But he does see plenty of uses, whether it be signings or trades.
“With that much money, you could look at almost all options. You could even talk about a max (salary) slot,” Kupchak said.
“You can take a player from another team (in trade) straight into cap room. Or maybe (take) a player who makes decent money (that another team wants to discard) and you get a draft pick.”
Kupchak said there is a balance to strike between improving, versus eating up cap flexibility in seasons beyond the next one. He emphasized that youth will be the preferred direction in all personnel decisions.
“We’ve finally got some flexibility. We have to be careful going forward, I don’t anticipate us being one of those teams in the running for big free agents. I don’t think we’re there yet as far as creating a culture and (having enough) young assets that one of those stars would want to come here in free-agency.”
On owner Michael Jordan
‘He’s 100 percent on board with what we’re doing,” Kupchak said.
“We made a decision to take a certain approach for this summer and we knew what that would lead to (losing) this year. There are no surprises.
“With our plan, it just takes time. You draft a kid who is 19 years old and it’s going to take two or three years for him to help us win. Also, we wanted to slowly dig our way out of some of the contracts we had. That takes a year or two.”
On the roster
Kupchak said he anticipates keeping developmental players Caleb Martin and Jalen McDaniels in Charlotte the rest of the season. The Hornets have two open roster spots and must fill one of them under NBA rules by Saturday.
Kupchak said that player could come from the Greensboro Swarm. The roster spot could be a series of 10-day contracts the rest of the season, an opportunity to audition various developmental players.
“We do have to get to 14” players under contract, he said. “We might bring players up on 10-day contracts and there’s always the possibility for an end-of-season contract. Look for someone we can develop.”
On Malik Monk’s improvement
“The last 10 games, he’s made a jump,” Kupchak said.
“(He had) a very rocky first year here under a different coach (Steve Clifford). Last year (was) kind of up-and-down for Malik. We were on him pretty hard. We challenged him. Players who feel good about themselves, they always push back a little bit. They have that confidence in themselves. And even the first part of this year, I think our coaches stuck with him and then he didn’t play at all (a couple of games). That’s part of a young player growing up and developing.
‘I don’t want to speak too soon, but it looks like he’s really turned the corner over the the last 10 to 15 games. Our coaches have also shown more confidence in him.”
On this team’s needs
“We’re not great rim-protectors. And nobody is a great rebounder. We kind of rebound by committee. Maybe we need a wing that can score,” Kupchak said.
On draft philosophy
“We’re going to take the best player, whether he’s a guard or a big, and then we’ll figure it out (regarding needs and roster balance) afterwards.”
On coach James Borrego
“J.B. has done a great job. He came here last year with a team we thought could make the playoffs. I thought we could make the playoffs, too. But we didn’t make it. And then he had to buy into the process to rebuild. A transition because we had a lot of veterans. Clearly we were transitioning from a veteran team to a young team,” Kupchak described.
“I think it was hard for him. This vision that we could win 40 game, make one trade and then win 46 or 48 (his first season). And then all of a sudden you’re on a team transitioning. But he gets to coach the way he wants to coach, because you can mandate more with young guys. But when you’re losing games, it’s hard. You’re looking for a silver lining and it feels like the season will never end.
“His energy has always been off the charts. His directives, developing players, hasn’t changed. And he’s bought into our vision of what we’re trying to do.”
On Kupchak’s responsibility
“I get a good feeling about this group going forward. Having said that, I wasn’t brought here for us to have a good feeling. That’s not why I’m here. We’ve got to get somewhere,” Kupchak said.
“After two years of being here, there is clearly a vision of what we’re trying to do. There is a plan and a vision. I like where we are. But it’s up to us to use those two (draft) picks. And if we’re using that cap space, to use it wisely.”
This story was originally published February 19, 2020 at 2:17 PM.
