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Charlotte Hornets: Cap Rises, Hornets still stuck

By John Woodcock

May 1, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Charlotte Hornets head coach Steve Clifford yells out during the second half in game seven of the first round of the NBA Playoffs against the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena. The Heat won 106-73. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
May 1, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Charlotte Hornets head coach Steve Clifford yells out during the second half in game seven of the first round of the NBA Playoffs against the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena. The Heat won 106-73. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Charlotte Hornets off season strategy did not get much of a lift by discovering the league cap was to grow two million dollars more than previously indicated.

There was a bit of news that was both good and bad for the Charlotte Hornets. The NBA Salary Cap is projected to rise to $94 million dollars according to reports from Zach Harper of CBS Sports. My original article on the Hornets cap future was based on the idea of a $92 million cap.

So what does an additional two million dollars do to the Hornets? First off it raises the value of a maximum salary at all three tiers of experience.

That means that instead of paying Nicolas Batum $25 million a year, the Hornets will have to pay him something $26.4 million a year. Assuming Batum will ask for the full max that means that the Hornets have only gained $600,000 of new money from the old projections.

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Six hundred thousand dollars is not nothing, but it is about the value of the first year contract to an undrafted free agent. The full two million might have brought in a veteran or given the Hornets more money to offer Marvin Williams or Jeremy Lin.

So the picture did not really change for the Hornets. They are still stuck on hitting their draft pick since that is the cheapest way to help the team. The Hornets could also move back in the draft if they can find the right partner. Given the range of the talent pool, it would not be crazy to think that the Hornets might find a way to drop into the second round and pay less for essentially the same player.

Most likely the team will sit at number 22 because they will be unable to make that kind of deal. Then they will draft one of the handful of players that they have worked out over the past couple of weeks. The last draft workout was Sunday and notably included Malcolm Brogdon and Patrick McCaw.

Next: Scouting the Lower Tier

Meanwhile the rest of the league is putting a big cloud of smoke up. Suddenly the Lakers would trade away D’Angelo Russell for a top 5 pick (In this draft? When you have number 2? Is this some sort of plot to get Ben Simmons?). The 76ers don’t know what they’re going to do (so they say). This is just a taste of what is being spread around with a week to go before the draft.

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