Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets one move, Vinny Del Negro praises Mitch Kupchak
Buzz City Beat is Swarm and Sting’s one stop for the latest news and stories from around the web about the Charlotte Hornets.
Both David Fizdale and Jerry Stackhouse, who are each a candidate for the Charlotte Hornets‘ head coaching job, reportedly made strong cases when they met with the New York Knicks. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at one move Charlotte needs to make this summer, Vinny Del Negro praising Mitch Kupchak and the Hornets/Greensboro Swarm donating $10,000 to schools.
One move Charlotte needs to make this offseason (TheSportster.com)
"Get Kemba Walker Some Real Help: Nic Batum is a little pricy, but combined with a high draft pick, he should give the Hornets enough to work with to land another star to play alongside Walker. The Eastern Conference (and the Southeast Division in particular) are wide open for another talented team to enter the playoff discussion."
Considering the Hornets’ salary cap situation, it’s going to be tough for them to get their all-star point guard some real help. Their best bet is to find an immediate impact player through the draft, sign a quality role player to a Mid-Level Exception deal and hope that Nicolas Batum (and company) can have a bounce-back season. It’s unlikely that Charlotte will be able to move Nic and/or Marvin Williams/MKG.
They are also likely banking on Malik Monk improving over the summer and taking on a bigger role next season. Having a new coach at the helm may go a long way as well. Kemba Walker has had little help over the past three seasons as the secondary scoring option hasn’t averaged more than 16.6 points per game while Kemba has put up 20+.
Vinny Del Negro praises Mitch Kupchak (Twitter/ @WFNZ)
".@VinnyDHoops on Mitch Kupchak: “Totally experienced. The track record is there, and the credibility is there. He’s as qualified as anybody, and I think the @hornets did a great job with the hire.”"
The former Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Clippers‘ head coach had nothing but positive things to say about Charlotte’s new general manager. Kupchak is one of the biggest GM names in the league today and has a history of winning from his time with the Los Angeles Lakers. It will be interesting to see if he can carry over his winning ways to the Hornets’ franchise.
Vinny clearly has a lot of respect for Mitch. Still, no matter how successful Kupchak has been in the past, Charlotte needs him to bring a winning culture to the Queen City. Del Negro, who has been out of the NBA since 2013, is reportedly in the running for the Phoenix Suns’ head coaching vacancy. (BleacherReport.com)
Swarm/Hornets donate $10,000 to Guilford County Schools Relief Fund (wfmynews2.com)
"The Greensboro Swarm, the NBA G League affiliate of the Charlotte Hornets, announced today that the two teams will donate $10,000 to the Guilford County Schools Relief Fund in the wake of the devastating storm that hit Greensboro last Sunday."
This is a great move by the organization to give back and help the community recover from a tornado. Three schools were shut down because of damage from the tornado. This should go a long way in helping the schools that were affected get the supplies necessary for them to properly teach the children.
Next: Kupchak scouts Luka Doncic in Greece
Credit to both the Greensboro Swarm and the Charlotte Hornets for getting this done so quickly. Helping out the local region should always be a main goal for the franchise and giving back in a time of need is a great sign of community.