The "Dude": The Mitch Kupchak Thread

[MasterIchiro]

C'mon Bonnell, trade the bedrock of the Hornets, who refuses to leave the court for a guy who mysteriously disappears for months for some minor issue?

Also, trading pick 11 isn't asking a team to solve our money problems in one single swoop. What kind of bar is that? If Kupchak packages the pick he will do so in order to immediately upgrade the talent faster than a draft pick. Attach it to Marvin or MKG and the Hornets get back a better player than MKG/Marvin and a more competitive roster compared to the one where pick 11 plays minimal minutes. I just don't see the allure of pick 11 right now. Is he going to play ahead of Cody, Hernangomez and Dwight? What about playing ahead of Frank? Kaminsky just connected on 38% of his threes. There's a minutes crunch at shooting guard between Lamb, Monk and Batum. There's MKG at SF with Batum probably being a better fit at the position. Is pick 11 going to be backup to Kemba and play 14 minutes per game? Drafting and keeping the pick means we're going to be watching the same team from this year, so the same deal 3 years in a row.

I highly doubt Kupchak will leave this roster in tact.

[Bassman]

Agree Kupchak will mix it up to the best of his ability, but we really have limited options. Beyond finally having some luck in the lottery, I am still leaning toward keeping the pick. Still some talent there, although the fall off is close to that spot. Too many teams are looking to shed salary and players, so I don’t foresee many deals. No matter the GM, we were put into a nasty crap hole by Cho and Cliff.

[MasterIchiro]

Agree Kupchak will mix it up to the best of his ability, but we really have limited options. Beyond finally having some luck in the lottery, I am still leaning toward keeping the pick. Still some talent there, although the fall off is close to that spot. Too many teams are looking to shed salary and players, so I don’t foresee many deals. No matter the GM, we were put into a nasty crap hole by Cho and Cliff.

I don't want the pick.

It's the same roster, plus a rookie backup guy buried on the bench for 2 more years making it 3 years straight watching this terrible fitting roster. Kupchak has to acquire better fitting pieces immediately and the only way to do that is to use the pick to move the worst fitting piece (MKG) for a better fit. What is MKG + pick 11 worth? I would think the Clippers would love to add a third 1st from this draft. Paul's gone. Griffin's gone. DeAndre Jordan will be gone. They play in a huge market and need to reload fast. They also have some expirings.

Surely Kupchak can identify with the pressure to win in LA.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

Here is a link to an article about Jesse Buss
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2773040-la-isnt-the-process-west-but-jesse-buss-giving-lakers-necessary-draft-edge

It's relevant to Mitch in that it paints a picture of him not really being the decision maker in LA in regards to their draft picks, particularly from 2013-on. That of course has implications for him making the right pick now.

I'm not anti-Mitch, and LA has reason to make the past less about the Hornet's current GM. However I also don't trust Mitch to make the right calls yet. We are going to have to see what he does this summer and how things go next year.

[MasterIchiro]

New thread title: Mitch Slapped

Clifford - ya been Mitch-slapped
Dwight - ya got Mitch-slapped
Nets- Mitch-slapped for two 2nd rounders
Clippers- Mitch-slapped for two 2nd rounders
Hawks - Mitch-slapped for Devonte Graham
Mozgov - thoroughly Mitch-slapped
Magic - Mitch-slapped for two 2nd rounders
Spurs - Mitch-slapped for Borrego + Parker

Somebody else gonna get Mitch-slapped.

[euphorbus]

This business of bringing back Biz has me worried that Kupchak lacks a long-range plan. It's a merry-go-round move. What do we need Biyombo for, exactly? If Malik Monk will be a major rotation player on next season's team, and plays primarily point guard, what is Tony Parker supposed to do, besides "mentor?" What was the point of signing Brice Johnson and then not giving him more than two days to prove his worth with a team and coach he has never seen before? Did they find out if he plays better defense than Hernangomez?

I am not a fan of making moves for the sake of making moves.

[MasterIchiro]

This business of bringing back Biz has me worried that Kupchak lacks a long-range plan. It's a merry-go-round move. What do we need Biyombo for, exactly? If Malik Monk will be a major rotation player on next season's team, and plays primarily point guard, what is Tony Parker supposed to do, besides "mentor?" What was the point of signing Brice Johnson and then not giving him more than two days to prove his worth with a team and coach he has never seen before? Did they find out if he plays better defense than Hernangomez?

I am not a fan of making moves for the sake of making moves.

I think the Parker signing proves their plan for Monk is shooting guard.

[316Hornets]

This business of bringing back Biz has me worried that Kupchak lacks a long-range plan. It's a merry-go-round move. What do we need Biyombo for, exactly? If Malik Monk will be a major rotation player on next season's team, and plays primarily point guard, what is Tony Parker supposed to do, besides "mentor?"

Batum is lazy. TP is gonna be worth 10 mil a year just for making Batum happy. He also gives Batum somewhat of a scapegoat for people to watch as Graham outperforms TP and eventually takes the job.

Biyambo was the result of D12. We got some 2nd rounders for lube while we try to trade some of our loaded contracts.

Biz will expire next season. He's not worth 17 mil but he's playable.

[euphorbus]

I think the Parker signing proves their plan for Monk is shooting guard.

I would be happy with that. It's what I said should have happened last year, due to the long time it takes to learn how to play point guard in the NBA. I am just not convinced it will happen. Coach Clifford had other plans. I have no idea about Coach Borrego.

[MasterIchiro]

The way I look at it is this. Kupchak started with Dwight.

He now has Biz + Graham + 2nd round picks + Tony Parker. I'd say he milked Dwight's expiring for all he could.

It remains to be seen if Biz + Parker will have him hamstrung whenever it comes to resigning Kemba while staying under the tax.

Don't bet against him.

He wouldn't tie himself in knots and risk losing Kemba if he didn't have a plan. He likely has advanced talks to move MKG and/or Marvin for expirings. And if MJ gave him permission to go over the tax for certain players, he likely has viable targets like Kevin Love.

Mitch is going to add more top talent, collect assets and/or create more cap. He has worked as a GM over one decade. Hilarious to think he'd corner himself over something as easy as buying out Dwight. Like even Cho could figure out that one.

[thesneakysneak]

How many second rounders do we have up our sleeves right now and any idea what years they become available?

Regarding Biyombo, TP etc. I'm not fussed at all by the signings. It was pretty clear that we weren't able to get rid of dead salary with out giving up picks or Kemba. So Mitch has us making the most of the pieces we have while remaining flexible until those contracts come off the books. We have 50 million coming off the books in '20 from TP, MKG, Marv and Biz.

Plus Batum will be expiring and could be movable if he gets his butt into gear the next two years. So in short he has two years to develop our youngings and lay out his plan.

[MasterIchiro]

How many second rounders do we have up our sleeves right now and any idea what years they become available?

Regarding Biyombo, TP etc. I not fussed at all by the signings. It was pretty clear that we weren't ablt to get rid of dead salary with out giving up picks or Kemba. So Mitch has us making the most of the pieces we have while remaining flexible until those contracts come off the books. We have 50 million coming off the books in '20 from TP, MKG, Marv and Biz.

Plus Batum will be expiring and could be movable if he gets his butt into gear the next two years. So in short he has two years to develop our youngings and lay out his plan.

+2 second rounders from the Dwight trade (Diallo traded at pick 45 for OKC second)
+2 second rounders from the Gilgeous-Alexander trade
-2 second rounders required to draft Graham
-1 second rounder required for Kulboka
+2 second rounders from the Mozgov deal for Biz

Tally board:

Miles Bridges
Tony Parker
Devonte Graham
Biz
Kulboka
+3 second round picks

It should be easy for Mitch to use those picks to unload Marvin + MKG for expirings.

[MasterIchiro]

Tidbits from Kroeger's interview with Mitch in Las Vegas today.

#1 Mitch revealed the Biz trade was not lined up with the Dwight deal. The plan was to have Mozgov earn minutes. The Biz deal presented itself 10 days ago.

#2 Mitch asserts we turned Dwight into 4 second round picks and that they value those assets. He said they don't have a player like Biyombo.

#3 The TPE from the Howard trade will allow them to add a player at the deadline and that's huge for a team with no cap, the ability to make an addition for a player worth 8 million.

#4 Parker is the 14th man on the roster. They want to keep one roster spot open for flexibility. TPE?

#5 Kupchak feels comfortable with the roster and doesn't anticipate any further additions right now. He qualified the remark by saying something could present itself tomorrow or months from now... You just never know. He seems awful calm about things, considering he needed Dwight capspace to keep Kemba without being taxed. He's posturing like a GM authorized to go into the tax to keep Kemba if he can't find a good deal for the bad contracts.

It's posted on Hornets.com

[Snidely FC]

Hornets move way up in latest ESPN Future Power Ranking

The Hornets had annually received the award that no team wanted: last in the FPR. Since 2009, Charlotte had an average of 28.5, and it had finished last in four consecutive rankings before moving to No. 28 last April. Led by LaMelo Ball, the Hornets now have their highest ranking since September 2014. The drafting of Ball, P.J. Washington and Miles Bridges and free-agent signings of Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier have the Hornets' roster ranked No. 16, up 11 spots from a year ago. The improved roster is a credit to GM Mitch Kupchak and head coach James Borrego. The Hornets had annually ranked in the bottom of management but now rank No. 17. Keep an eye on Charlotte this offseason as well. It is one of a handful of teams that have cap space to use in free agency.

[Braggins]

16 feels a little low to me. We were the 5th youngest team in the league this season and have one of the best prospects in the league. I'll take it, though.

[Hornet Mania]

16 feels a little low to me. We were the 5th youngest team in the league this season and have one of the best prospects in the league. I'll take it, though.

I agree that 16 seems low, but personally I'm thrilled that I can even justifiably feel that way.

The last few years when we ranked 30th I'd just nod sadly because there was no way to argue the point without being a massive homer.

Low expectations ftw, I guess.

[BigSlam]

"The Dude"!!

Love it.

Mitch's official new nickname.

[UNCNYC]

"The Dude"!!

Love it.

Mitch's official new nickname.

Great name. He is infact the DUDE lol.

Another name for his thread could be

G-Wiz - The Mitch Kupchak Thread

The reason why is he seems to LOVE the G league and has been a wiz so far lol.

[wilson115]

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[CuseMayne]

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Thanks for this man. Good stuff.

Now I'm hyped for Monday...feels like there will be a lot of moves all around the league. The NBA offseason is exciting! Not to mention that the summer league starts next Sunday! WOW!