Looking into the 2019-20 Charlotte Hornets payroll
Heading into one of the most important summers of the Charlotte Hornets’ recent history, let’s take a look into the teams payroll for next season.
The Charlotte Hornets hit this free agency with a blocked-cap situation. The 2018-19 NBA free agent market is full of big names, with really good players are moving around the league. The Hornets will not be able to be so active because of their situation and they will likely be focused on Kemba Walker‘s case.
Considering that Marvin Williams and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist will both likely pick up their team options, and that Tony Parker‘s contract is not guaranteed, the payroll for next year counts $97.564.284 millions guaranteed. That is a huge amount of money considering that Charlotte did not reach playoffs.
This salary cap situation come along an important free agency for the team Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb, the two most promising players of the roster, are free agents in July first. A lot of options will be discussed during the next summer, the team may move in different direction.
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Mitch Kupchak has proved during the years that he is a good General Manager, but this may be one of the most difficult challenges of his General Manager career.
The Charlotte Hornets holds three picks in 2019 NBA Draft; their own picks plus one early second rounder coming from the Washington Wizards. If Mitch Kupchak decide to not use them in trade packages, those are cost that he will have to deal with.
Another option is to use second round pick for a Draft & Stash situation, like the Hornets did with their 55th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, taking Arnoldas Kulboka.
Charlotte Hornets General Manager Mitch Kupchak will have to deal with those numbers, while also taking the fact that the projected luxury tax for the next season is $132 million into consideration.
That is a line that the Hornets will likely overcome if they plan to re-sign both Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb. Decision will be made, but the Hornets would not like to pay a tax for another mediocre year, as team owner Micheal Jordan has always expressed.
Another important element of Charlotte payroll is the $7,819,725 trade exception coming from the Dwight Howard deal. The exception will expire the 6th of July, the Hornets should move in order not to waste it.
Mitch Kupchak worked for that trade exception, he will try to use it, even if it will be hard to move in this cap situation.
Bismack Biyombo, Marvin Williams and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist will enter their last year of contract next season. This is a huge key for the Hornets payroll. The team may decide to waive and stretch or to dump one of them in order to create more cap room.
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This is a stressing and hard summer for the whole fan base and organization, there are a lot of different moves that could be made, even if the payroll is blocked.