Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets draft plans, Mitch Kupchak to change scouting structure
Welcome to Buzz City Beat, a daily roundup of the best articles from around the internet surrounding the Charlotte Hornets.
Frank Kaminsky celebrated his 25th birthday on April 4th. (Twitter/ @NBA) It’s crazy to think that he is only in his third NBA season and older than Michael Kidd-Gilchrist who is in his sixth year in the league. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at the Charlotte Hornets‘ potential draft plans, the changes that Mitch Kupchak will make to the team’s scouting structure and Tyronn Lue thanking Steve Clifford.
Hornets’ draft plans (BleacherReport.com)
"Plan A: Trade up, Plan B: Wendell Carter Jr. (Duke, C, Freshman), Plan C: Kevin Knox (Kentucky, SF/PF, Freshman), and Plan C, Option 2: Collin Sexton (Alabama, PG/SG, Freshman)."
There’s a number of directions that Charlotte could go in the draft this summer. They will most likely pick around 10th or 11th in the 2018 NBA Draft. Most of the top players are expected to be off of the board by that time. I doubt that the Hornets will trade up because that would mean either trading a future pick or Kemba Walker.
Wendell Carter Jr will probably be selected in the top-eight but Kevin Knox and Collin Sexton should both still be available at No. 10 or No. 11. It all depends on what direction the team wants to go in. I think Knox is the way to go. Kevin would add scoring from the forward positions and he would likely replace Michael Kidd-Gilchrist or Marvin Williams in the starting lineup either immediately or in the near future.
Mitch Kupchak to change Charlotte’s scouting (ESPN.com)
"Kupchak will keep assistant general manager Buzz Peterson in a front-office role, and Kupchak ultimately will add his own personnel changes to the team’s management and scouting structure, league sources said."
It sounds like the former Los Angeles Lakers‘ GM will have complete control once he takes the Hornets’ general manager job. Making changes to management and scouting is of utmost importance especially Charlotte’s scouting department considering how poorly they’ve drafted in recent years. Maybe some changes to the scouting structure will help the team make better decisions in the draft and with their signings going forward.
It’s unclear exactly what changes will be made but I’d expect most of the staff that Rich Cho put in place to be changed by Kupchak. Keeping Buzz Peterson in a front-office role may mean that Michael Jordan is still planning for Mitch to groom Peterson so that he can take over as GM in the future.
Steve Clifford helped Cavs’ head coach (Twitter/ @CavsFredMcLead)
"Ty says the players constantly reached out to him during his recovery “the love and support was very humbling” He says Char coach, Steve Clifford was a big help having gone through a similar step away from coaching"
Ty Lue missed nine games because of health issues. Steve Clifford had to miss 21 games earlier this season as he dealt with health issues of his own. Getting more sleep has really helped the Hornets’ head coach. Credit to Coach Clifford for reaching out to a fellow NBA coach to offer some help and advice.
Next: Offseason issues for Charlotte to address
The difference between their absences is that Cleveland went 8-1 without Lue while Charlotte went only 9-12 under associate head coach Stephen Silas. In the end, it’s good to see Tyronn get healthy enough to return to the sideline for the Cavaliers.