Hornets guide to NBA free agency: What will happen with Miles Bridges, Cody Martin?

Mitch Kupchak is walking a virtual balance beam.

As the Charlotte Hornets general manager navigated the NBA draft last week, preceding the free agency frenzy that officially commences at 6 p.m. Thursday, he’s walking a fine line. Kupchak already had to decide whether some potential deals were in the franchise’s best long-term interest, and that’s only going to continue over the coming days.

Financial flexibility is big in Kupchak’s eyes, and that could be the driving force.

“We had opportunities as you might imagine (during the draft),” Kupchak said. “Good draft picks, to bring (in) veterans, Some of them I think would have helped us but, some of them are on one-year deals, and now you have a different issue. Now you’ve got to manage payroll. And we’ve got to manage it this summer with our existing free agents.”

Deviating from the course they’ve set can have repercussions.

That’s something Kupchak is wary of and it’s often at the forefront of his mind when pondering roster moves. The Hornets want to ensure they build a team that’s destined for the postseason, but do it with the ramifications of next season and possibly beyond in mind, because they aren’t championship worthy just yet.

“So you’ve just got to be careful that you don’t get too far ahead of yourselves,” Kupchak said. “In other words, think you are better than you really are. I always love the kids we draft. All general managers do. But that doesn’t always mean that I’m right. So you’ve really got to be careful. You’ve got to be realistic with yourself.”

Translation: Expect a methodical approach by the Hornets. Attention-grabbing moves likely won’t be part of the equation.

“The first thing we need to do is address our own free agents,” Kupchak said. “Then we’ll figure out how much flexibility we’ll have after that. We may have a roster spot. I don’t know if we will have two and maybe what we will look to do is add a veteran player. I don’t know how much financial flexibility we will have.

“It could be just the minimum. It could be the bi-annual. It could even be more than that. But it depends on how signing back our own free agents goes. I think it’s possible, but I don’t see us going into free agency and making a big splash.”

Here’s a Hornets’ free agency primer:

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

▪ Miles Bridges appeared to be the Hornets’ primary focus this offseason. On Tuesday, prior to Bridges’ arrest for felony domestic violence, Kupchak made it clear they want to re-sign him. The options appeared to be dwindling for Bridges to land a maximum contract earlier in the week after Detroit used a good chunk of its cap space. San Antonio has money available, but that’s likely not a destination because the Spurs are in total rebuild mode following the reported traded of Dejounte Murray to Atlanta for Danilo Galinari.

▪ Bringing back Cody Martin remains one of the Hornets’ goals and extending the $2.2 million qualifying offer allows them to match any contract he receives on the open market. The homegrown product is in line for a hefty pay raise and could have a few other suitors given his defensive presence on the wing and potential to further develop into a 3-and-D wing.

▪ Isaiah Thomas’ return status is unclear and could depend on how things shake out with the rest of the roster. But he was liked among the coaching staff and is well-regarded with Kupchak. He not only filled a void, serving as the backup point guard when Ish Smith got traded to Washington, he also worked favorably with LaMelo Ball. He turned out to be a veteran voice that Ball respected and Thomas reiterated his desire to come back and be a part of the team from the beginning of the season instead of the tail end as he did after signing two 10-day contracts before sticking on for the remainder.

SALARY CAP TALK

▪ Although it’s not official, the NBA is reportedly setting the salary cap at $123 million, which is larger than the $112 million the league had in place for 2021-22. As it stands heading into Thursday, the Hornets are above the cap because they have roughly $100 million committed in salary next season plus around $39 million in cap holds — which are salaries of draft picks or restricted free agents — and another $8.8 million in ‘dead’ money.

▪ The bi-annual exception is an option for the Hornets as Kupchak suggested. It can be used to re-sign their own free agents or another team’s free agents, and is available for teams whose salary is above the cap but below the tax level as well as the tax apron once the contract is signed.

▪ Nic Batum’s presence lives on — on the books, that is — despite him playing for the Clippers the past two seasons. The Hornets were on the hook for the remaining $24 million of the final season of Batum’s five-year, $120 million contract, and stretched it over three seasons when they waived him in 2020. His $8.8 million figure represents 5.9% of the Hornets’ salary cap.

A CONTRACT GUARANTEE

Kelly Oubre has a few reasons to pay attention to the Hornets’ happenings as soon as free agency begins. As in nearly eight million of them.

If Oubre isn’t waived and is on the Hornets’ roster at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, the second season of the two-year, $24.6 million contract he inked last offseason becomes fully guaranteed. Oubre is scheduled to earn $12.6 million in 2022-23 and only $5 million of that is guaranteed prior to the deadline.

He was a valuable part of the team in his first season in Charlotte, averaging 15 points and four rebounds per game, even garnering some sixth man of the year votes.