Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets clean house, Greensboro Swarm let go of HC
Welcome to Buzz City Beat, a daily roundup of the best articles from around the internet surrounding the Charlotte Hornets.
Head coaching candidate David Fizdale is set to interview with the New York Knicks despite interest from the Queen City team. (BleacherReport.com) In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at the Charlotte Hornets‘ cleaning house, the Greensboro Swarm not renewing their head coach’s contract and the team’s draft lottery position.
Mitch Kupchak cleans house (Twitter/ @ChrisMannixYS)
"The Hornets cleaned house today, per sources. In addition to firing Steve Clifford, Charlotte let go of most of its training staff, analytics department, etc. Mitch Kupchak is doing a complete reset."
Mitch Kupchak isn’t wasting any time as the general manager of the Hornets. Just three days after being announced as Charlotte’s GM and he’s already fired Steve Clifford and gotten rid of a lot of the staff. Things are happening quickly for the Queen City team and Mitch Kupchak is ushering in a new era for them.
One thing that is worth noting is that Clifford’s assistant coaches remain under contract and with the team. Although, they are expected to be let go once a new head coach is hired as he will hire his own assistants. Expect more changes to come this summer as Kupchak is in the midst of an organizational overhaul.
Greensboro Swarm let go of Noel Gillespie (Gleague.NBA.com)
"Charlotte Hornets President of Basketball Operations & General Manager Mitch Kupchak announced today that the team’s G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, will not extend the contract of head coach Noel Gillespie."
In two seasons with Greensboro, Gillespie had a record of only 35-65. The Swarm missed out on the G-League playoffs in both seasons. With Steve Clifford now gone, it only makes sense that the Hornets’ G-League affiliate would make a coaching change as well.
Expect whoever Greensboro brings in to match the scheme and style of whoever Charlotte hires as their head coach. The Swarm hasn’t done a great job of developing players over the past couple years as their best player has been Damien Wilkins who is in his late 30’s. Hopefully, they can focus more on player development in the coming seasons.
NBA Draft lottery order (BleacherReport.com)
"1. Phoenix, 2. Memphis, 3. Dallas, 4. Atlanta, 5. Orlando, 6. Chicago, 7. Sacramento, 8. Cleveland (from Nets), 9. New York Knicks, 10. Philadelphia, 11. Charlotte, 12. LA Clippers, 13. LA Clippers, 14. Denver"
The Hornets finished the 2017-18 season with the 11th worst record in the NBA which means that they will have the 11th best chance of getting the No.1 pick in the draft this summer. Charlotte has a 0.8% chance of getting the first overall pick and a 2.9% chance of getting a top-three selection.
Next: Rumor: Hornets targeting David Fizdale
They finished just one win ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers this year. If the Hornets would’ve tanked at the end of the season and LA ended with the better record, Charlotte would’ve instead had a 1.1% chance of getting the top pick and a 4% chance of landing in the top-three. The Draft Lottery will be on May 15th.