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Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets miss out on Tyler Nelson, Kemba Walker wins Sportsmanship Award

By Jerry Stephens

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 26: Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Hornets poses for a portrait after receiving the NBA Sportsmanship Award at the NBA Awards Show on June 26, 2017 at Basketball City at Pier 36 in New York City, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Michael J. LeBrecht II/NBAE via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 26: Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Hornets poses for a portrait after receiving the NBA Sportsmanship Award at the NBA Awards Show on June 26, 2017 at Basketball City at Pier 36 in New York City, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Michael J. LeBrecht II/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Buzz City Beat is Swarm and Sting’s one stop for the latest news and stories from around the web about the Charlotte Hornets.

Arnoldas Kulboka, one of Charlotte’s second-round picks, posted a photo of himself wearing a Hornets’ jack when he was a kid. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at the Charlotte Hornets missing out on Tyler Nelson for their summer league team, Kemba Walker winning his second consecutive Sportsmanship Award and Mitch Kupchak wanting to keep Kemba.

Hornets miss out on Tyler Nelson (Twitter/ @ClevisMurray)

"Source: Tyler Nelson was contemplating a Summer League offer from the Charlotte Hornets, but as he announced today, he’ll be playing for for the Minnesota Timberwolves."

After going undrafted in the 2018 NBA Draft, it appears that Nelson had at least a couple summer league offers with one being from Charlotte. He snubbed them in favor of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Tyler worked out for the Hornets, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Washington Wizards prior to the draft.

The 22-year old led the MAAC in scoring and was 11th in the nation in points. He was one of the top scorers in NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball last year and will look to showcase his scoring ability in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, the Hornets missed out on Tyler Nelson who could earn an NBA roster spot if he plays well enough during summer league.

Kemba wins second straight Sportsmanship Award (Twitter/ @Hornets)

"OFFICIAL: @KembaWalker is the 2017-18 NBA Sportsmanship Award Winner!"

For the second year in a row, Walker was named the Joe Dumars Sportsmanship Award. He is only the second player to ever win back to back Sportsmanship Awards joining Jason Kidd. The Award is given to the player who best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court & consistently displays the principles of sportsmanship, fair play & integrity.

Other players from NBA teams vote on who they think should win the award. Al Horford finished a close second (2,380 vote points) to Walker (2,408 vote points). Jrue Holiday (third), Garrett Temple (fourth), Thaddeus Young (fifth) and Steven Adams (sixth) finished behind them. It will be interesting to see if Kemba can win the award for a third straight year next season.

Kupchak wants Walker to be in Charlotte for his career (Sporskeeda.com)

"“Going forward, in the community, in the franchise, this is a player that we hope is with us – not only for the next couple of years but ends his career here,” Kupchak said."

Even though Mitch wants Kemba to finish his career in Charlotte, Walker could still be traded if the right offer presents itself and is too good to refuse. Also, he could leave in free agency at the end of the 2018-19 season. If the Hornets want to re-sign their all-star point guard, they would likely have to give him a max deal at the end of his current contract.

Next: Hornets considered drafting Michael Porter Jr.

If they do, Kemba could get a five-year, $188 million deal. Which would cost them $32.4 million in the first year. Paying a 30+-year-old Walker $30+ million in the later stages of the contract may be a tough pill to swallow but that’s what will have to be done in order to keep him for the rest of his career.

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