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Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets eliminated from summer league, P.J. Hairston retires

By Jerry Stephens

CHARLOTTE, NC - JANUARY 2: P.J. Hairston #19 of the Charlotte Hornets gets introduced before the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on January 2, 2016 at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. 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 the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC - JANUARY 2: P.J. Hairston #19 of the Charlotte Hornets gets introduced before the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on January 2, 2016 at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. 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 the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Kent Smith/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 internet about the Charlotte Hornets.

Rookie Miles Bridges was spotted wearing a throwback Hornets’ Larry Johnson jersey in Las Vegas. (ReviewJournal.com) In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at the Charlotte Hornets being eliminated from the Las Vegas Summer League, former Hornet P.J. Hairston announcing his retirement, and Devonte’ Graham‘s knee injury.

Hornets eliminated from summer league tournament (WBTV.com)

"The Charlotte Hornets fell to the Toronto Raptors 87-84 in the second round of the 2018 NBA Summer League tournament, which means their time in Las Vegas has come to an end. Charlotte played five games in eight days and finished with a 3-2 record."

Although Charlotte didn’t make it to the quarterfinals of the Las Vegas Summer League tournament this year, they did have an impressive showing at the event. Despite injuries to Malik Monk and Devonte’ Graham, both looked confident and played well in limited playing time. Miles Bridges got plenty of valuable minutes against NBA talent ahead of his rookie season.

As for Willy Hernangomez and Dwayne Bacon, they each made a strong case for being in the Hornets’ regular rotation for the 2018-19 season. Even two-way player J.P Macura and second-round pick Arnoldas Kulboka were impressive with the latter looking like a potential rotation player in a year or two. The injuries were the only downside to their time in Vegas.

P.J. Hairston announces his retirement (Instagram.com)

"“Today is probably one of the saddest days of my life as I decide to walk away from basketball. My passion for the game will always be there and I will forever stick around the game of basketball, I just feel that health is my best choice right now and being healthy is way too important.”"

Hariston was acquired by Charlotte in a draft day trade from the Miami Heat in 2014. He played a total of three seasons in the NBA and two with the Hornets. P.J. appeared in 93 games and made 45 starts for the Queen City team. He also played with the Memphis Grizzlies for half of a season in 2015-16 which was his last stint in the league. At only 25-years old, it looks like the former first-round pick’s career has already come to an end.

Hairston cites health concerns for the reason behind his retirement. Hopefully, he can get healthy going forward. Although he won’t be remembered as one of the greatest Hornets’ ever, P.J. was an integral part of Charlotte’s 2015-16 team that went 48-34 and had one of the best seasons for the franchise in recent memory.

He ends his time in the NBA with a career average of 6.0 points per game and 2.4 rebounds per game.

Devonte’ Graham injury (NBA.com)

"Charlotte Hornets announced that guard Devonte’ Graham underwent a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) exam Wednesday on his right knee. The initial diagnosis revealed that Graham has suffered a condylar lesion in his right knee."

After the injury was revealed, it was announced that Graham would not only miss the remainder of the Las Vegas Summer League but that he would also be out indefinitely. Devonte’ is set to be re-evaluated by the Hornets’ medical staff once he returns to Charlotte. Hopefully, it isn’t a serious injury because Charlotte doesn’t have a lot of point guard depth.

Next: Why Tony Parker will thrive off of the bench

It’s still unclear how long he will be out but if he misses significant time, the Hornets may need to sign another ball handler as Kemba Walker and Tony Parker would be their only healthy point guards. The injury is an unfortunate turn of events for the second-round pick who was playing well in Vegas and looked like a steal of a draft pick.

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