This summer is going to be a chaos filled off season for the Charlotte Hornets. Not only is the cap space for the entire NBA rising, many of the Hornets key role players from this past season are becoming unrestricted free agents.
The teams main star Kemba Walker is firmly set in place with the team for four more years through the 2018-19 season, worth $48 million over that span. So no matter what players the team may lose during free agency, they will have their franchise point guard.
Kemba Walker’s robin to his batman this season was Nic Batum. It was his first year in Charlotte coming over from Portland, and he made quite the impression. The two-three swingman averaged 14.9 PPG, 6.1 RPG, and 5.8 APG, those stats alone show you why he was one of the leaders on a team who posted their best record (48-34) since 2002.
The problem with Batum, is that he will need a new contract this summer. Of course there is nothing wrong with the Hornets giving out a max contract to a guy like Batum, but this off season would be a lot simpler had the Hornets already had Batum locked down. The only problem with giving Batum max, which they will do considering Hornets GM Rich Cho said Batum is the teams “top priority”, is that this most likely means the team will lose either Al Jefferson, Jeremy Lin, Marvin Williams, or Courtney Lee. However, as long as the Hornets get their “top priority” I think things will workout just fine.
All of the Hornets players have expressed how pleased they were with the team and its chemistry this season, but the most likely player to leave is Jeremy Lin. Lin was a great backup for the Hornets this season and deserves to be paid well, but with money going towards Marvin Williams coming off his best season ever, and Big Al to keep an inside presence, it is unlikely they will have the money to keep Lin.
Making up for the loss of a guy like Lin is much easier than making up for the loss of an all-around star such as Batum, which is why he is the “top priority.”
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