In his first season as General Manager of the Charlotte Hornets, Mitch Kupchak showed a strong desire of building a winning team in the Queen City.
It was the middle of February last year when the Charlotte Hornets made a (not so shocking) move by firing Rich Cho and beginning the search for a new General Manager. Two months later, and the Hornets had their new man; former Lakers head man Mitch Kupchak.
At the time, I did question the hiring, simply because Kupchak’s tenure with the Lakers ended pretty poorly. He was clowned by many for signing Luol Deng to a four-year, $72 million contract and Timofey Mozgov to a four-year, $64 million contract.
However, Kupchak has been around the NBA for a long time as a player and executive, and he built championship teams in Los Angeles, so I quickly found faith in him. Overall, I think he did a good job during his first year in Charlotte.
His first move as General Manager of the Charlotte Hornets was firing Steve Clifford, and replacing him with James Borrego. Clifford may have went on to have great success with Orlando this past season, but you can’t question this decision. It was clear that Charlotte needed a new voice, and Borrego was a great hire.
Kupchak then traded Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in exchange for Miles Bridges and two future second round picks. I personally would have kept Gilgeous-Alexander, but it’s a trade that has worked well for both sides.
His big move in free agency was signing Tony Parker, and the team definitely benefited from having his veteran presence and championship experience. It was a successful signing, even if they missed out on the playoffs. Parker taught the guards a lot throughout the season.
Everyone knew that whoever took the Hornets General Manager position was in for a tough ride, so I give Kupchak credit. He made a few moves and the team was just one game away from the postseason. If they can keep this core together, they will have a shot at the playoffs again next year.
Throughout the year, Kupchak repeatedly stated his desire to build a winning team around Kemba Walker. Fans can appreciate his will to win, and if the team can retain Walker as a free agent, you can count on him to continue trying to build a playoff team.
If Walker leaves in free agency and signs elsewhere, that would likely put the team in re-build mode, but I’m sure Kupchak would still like to have a competitive roster that plays hard every night.
With all of that being said, let’s grade Kupchak’s first season as a member of the Charlotte Hornets.
Charlotte missing the playoffs obviously hurts his grade, but they were just one game away, and maybe if they had better luck with injuries, they could have slithered into the playoff race. Although, a likely first round exit would have been looming.
The Hornets now enter a pivotal off-season, but they have the right man in charge. Regardless of what direction Kupchak decides to go in, we must remember that he has a good track record, despite some of the horrendous contracts that he gave out in 2016.
It may be one of the more difficult jobs in the NBA at the moment, but Kupchak is coming off a successful first season personally, so hopefully he can carry that momentum into next season. It would be nice to see him trade away some of the poor contracts that Cho left the team with, but that may be wishful thinking.
In the end, I think that Kupchak’s first season in Charlotte was a positive step for him, especially coming off an ugly exit in Los Angeles.