Did Svi Mykhailiuk’s successful stint with Charlotte Hornets save his NBA career?

Former University of Kansas guard Svi Mykhailiuk will find out this NBA offseason if an impressive, 19-game season-ending tryout of sorts with the Charlotte Hornets has saved his pro hoops career.

“Free agency starts in July. I think I helped myself, showed I can play. I don’t know what is going to happen, but we’ll see,” Mykhailiuk, a 6-foot-7, 205-pound, 25-year-old native of Cherkasy, Ukraine, said in his recent season-ending “exit interview” with media members who cover the Hornets.

Mykhailiuk’s days as an NBA player appeared to be in serious jeopardy in February when he was traded from New York, where he averaged just 3.1 minutes per game in 13 games for the Knicks, to the Hornets, his sixth team — yes sixth team — in a five-year professional career.

Mykhailiuk in finishing off his one-year deal worth $2 million was sensational for the Hornets, adding life to a team that struggled to a 27-55 record during the 2022-23 season.

Mykhailiuk was inserted into the rotation, averaging 22.5 minutes in 19 games. He averaged 10.6 points, 2.7 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game for his new team. Most importantly, he hit 36 of 89 threes for 40.4%. His career mark from three is 36%.

The former Jayhawk scored in double figures in eight of the Hornets’ final nine games. He totaled a career-high 26 points against Toronto, 25 against Houston, 18 versus Oklahoma City, 17 again against Toronto and 16 versus Cleveland and Chicago down the stretch.

“It’s been great, a great experience to come here, play for this team, interact with everybody. Overall just getting some playing time and enjoying the game of basketball,” said Mykhailiuk who obviously would consider signing with the Hornets after stints with Detroit, Toronto, Los Angeles (Lakers), Oklahoma City and New York since leaving KU after the 2017-18 season.

“I feel the last 18 games were the best games of my career so far. I feel I showed I can play on this level, be very efficient with it. I know my role. I know what I need to do to stay on the court. It’s just been great to actually step on the court and play,” Mykhailiuk said.

The second-round pick of the Lakers in the 2018 NBA Draft, who is still considered young by NBA standards, just might be the type of player the Hornets wish to sign to a multiyear deal. Charlotte went 7-12 in games in which Mykhailiuk played, 5-5 in the final 10 games.

“Despite his age, Mykhailiuk has seen a lot of the NBA. And in truth, had it not been for the circumstances surrounding the season, the Hornets likely wouldn’t have played him as much,” writes W.B. Whitted of swarmandsting.com. “But with the Hornets looking to add shooting to the second-least-accurate three-point shooting team in the league, it may finally be time for the young journeyman to unpack his bags.”

“He may or may not return to Charlotte, but he has certainly played himself into another NBA contract,” writes Schuyler Callihan of SI.com.

Mykhailiuk said he immediately felt comfortable upon arriving in Charlotte.

“I feel I knew most of the guys,” he said in his exit interview. “Either I played against them or with them during my career or college. I wouldn’t say it was hard because I knew almost everybody here. It made it way more easier and helped me adjust way quicker.”

He played at KU with Hornets wing Kelly Oubre, who also is a free agent this offseason. Oubre was paid $12,600,000 by Charlotte during the 2022-23 season.

“When I met him at Kansas, we were both freshmen,” Oubre told nba.com. “He came from the Ukraine, so the first day on campus was the first day I met him. From then, he’s been a real smooth, easygoing, cool guy, but he’s a dog on the basketball court. That’s a lot like myself. Off the court, I’m myself, but on the court, I bring a different element. It’s a great mix of human being.”

Mykhailiuk averaged a team-high 17.0 points and 2.2 steals a game for Ukraine at last summer’s EuroBasket Tournament. He helped Ukraine to its second-best finish ever at the event (12th). His best NBA season came his second year in the league. He averaged 9.0 points a game on 40.4% three-point shooting in 56 games (27 starts), for the Detroit Pistons.

He averaged 10.3 points a game in 30 games for Oklahoma City in 2020-21. In 2021-22, he played 56 games for Toronto, averaging 4.6 points a game.

“Because of his size I’d say he’s probably more of a two-guard,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford told nba.com. “Very good shooter. The big thing I’ve noticed here, and I knew this from talking to guys who’ve coached him, he’s very bright, good worker. He’s played on different teams, so he picks things up quickly.”

He also is able to take the business side of the NBA in stride entering what could be another stressful offseason for a player seeking a new deal with Charlotte or a seventh NBA team.

“When you get traded a couple times, you know how it goes, so you don’t stress as much,” Mykhailiuk told nba.com. He was traded this season, also at the 2019 trade deadline from the Lakers to Detroit and in 2021 from Detroit to Oklahoma City. “It’s from the business side, so it is what it is.”