Nick Richards’ Contract Fully Guaranteed

With Nick Richards still a member of the Charlotte Hornets as of July 8th, his $1.7 million contract has become fully guaranteed.

Richards saw action in 50 games last season, including five starts, and posted averages of 3.0 points and 1.7 rebounds. His best performance came on December 6th, when he had a career-high 12 points to go along with five rebounds against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Richards will once again play in the Summer League, becoming the second-oldest player on Charlotte’s Summer League roster behind only Cameron McGriff, who is two months older than Richards. His last experience in the Summer League saw him post averages of 6.5 points and 4.8 rebounds across four games while also having the third-highest field goal percentage behind JT Thor and Scottie Lewis and tying JT Thor for the second-most blocks.

With the Hornets selecting Mark Williams with the 15th pick while also still having Mason Plumlee on the roster, Richards is no higher than third on the depth chart at the center position. Unless he makes a noticeable leap between now and the beginning of the season, there is not a clear path to him being a permanent member of the rotation.

As with all contract guarantees, it is important to consider the financial ramifications as well. With the Hornets now having 13 guaranteed contracts, plus approximately $8.9 million in dead cap from waiving Nicolas Batum, plus the value of their cap holds for players who are free agents, Charlotte is above the salary cap. This means that they can utilize the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception, which Spotrac explains as an exception that “is awarded annually to teams who are above the cap but below the Luxury Tax Apron ($156,938,000) and can be used for contracts up to 4 years in length”.

While Richards’ guaranteed contract is not large enough to impact Charlotte’s use of the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception considering the cap holds, it leaves open the possibility of Richards being waived after the team makes use of the exception.

Summer League may be Nick Richards’ last chance with the Charlotte Hornets

Richards’ limited production to this point and the addition of Mark Williams likely means that Summer League is Richards’ final chance to make headway on the Hornets’ depth chart. With three talented frontcourt players in Williams, Kai Jones, and JT Thor on the Summer League roster, all of whom are younger and were drafted higher than him, Richards may be the odd man out.