Swarm and Sting
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Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets Salary Guarantee Dates, Swarm Create a Buzz

By Jerry Stephens

Apr 4, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) shoots the ball as Charlotte Hornets center Cody Zeller (40) defends in the fourth in the fourth quarter at Verizon Center. The Wizards won 118-111. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 4, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) shoots the ball as Charlotte Hornets center Cody Zeller (40) defends in the fourth in the fourth quarter at Verizon Center. The Wizards won 118-111. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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Welcome to Buzz City Beat, a daily roundup of the latest and greatest news and stories from around the web about the Charlotte Hornets.

James Harden and the Houston Rockets sent Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder home after beating them 4-1 in their first-round series. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at Charlotte Hornets‘ salary guarantee dates, the Greensboro Swarm create a buzz in the city and Cody Zeller‘s season in review.

Hornets’ Salary Guarantee Dates (HoopsRumors.com)

"Below, we’ve broken down the upcoming salary guarantee dates for many players currently on non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts for 2017/18."

Briante Weber and Johnny O’Bryant‘s contracts for next season become fully guaranteed on August 1st. That means that Charlotte’s front office has until that deadline to either accept of decline their deals. Weber is scheduled to make $1.4 million next year while O’Bryant is set to receive $1.5 million.

The Hornets will be able to watch the two prospects play in summer league, preseason and training camp this offseason before making their final decision. If I had to guess, both players will be on the team next year because of their team-friendly contracts. Although, that will also come down to how well they play and if they can impress the team this summer.

Swarm Create a Buzz in Greensboro (Greensboro.com)

"Players posed for photos with fans and stood on court with them for the national anthem before the season finale. Youngsters got to shoot free throws after games. And the team’s management prided itself on treating fans well and taking their comments to heart."

More and more positive stories continue to come out of Greensboro. The Swarm is seemingly developing a close relationship with their fans and it showed as they sold out seven games in their inaugural season. Even though the wins weren’t always there for the team, the fans were and that will go a long way for the D-League affiliate going forward.

Having a good relationship with fans usually goes unnoticed and is largely unappreciated by teams. As for the Swarm, they have made a collective effort to assimilate with the Greensboro community and make everyone feel welcome. That isn’t an easy thing to do so credit them for that and we should see their wins and attendance numbers go up next year.

Season in Review: Cody Zeller (NBA.com)

"Having now completed his fourth season in the league, Zeller has not only emerged as an integral, two-way player for the Hornets, but also one of the better, all-around centers in the NBA as well."

Next: Making a Trade for Kristaps Porzingis

As everyone has noted multiple times, the Hornets are simply better with Zeller in the lineup. He does a number of things that don’t show up in the box score but help the team win games. It’s too bad that Cody’s season was plagued by injuries because if he was healthy all year, Charlotte probably would’ve made the playoffs.

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