With NBA Draft over and free agency up next, more key decisions loom for Hornets

When the NBA Draft was complete and the Charlotte Hornets’ final tally was in, Mitch Kupchak couldn’t deny a feeling of satisfaction, even if it was only temporary.

Kupchak, Charlotte’s team president/GM, knows all too well that declaring victory and being overly confident of a franchise’s haul of prospects before they’ve even suited up is not a smart move. And while it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of landing Brandon Miller, Nick Smith Jr., James Nnaji and Amari Bailey, the true assessment of the Hornets’ latest draft can’t happen right away.

“We’re very pleased,” Kupchak said. “But you have to remember that you look back on it in four years and then you find out how you really did. I can’t remember a draft that I left where I wasn’t very happy, but they’re not all great drafts when you look back at it in four years. We’re pleased to have the draft we did.

“For our plan, which is to build the team through the G League, drafting, maybe making a savvy trade, if there’s a free agent that makes sense, of course we’ll do that. But we look to build through the draft.”

Now with that part of the Hornets’ offseason list checked off, Kupchak & Co. can turn their attention to the next task: figure out which of their own players to re-sign when free agency officially begins on Friday.

Restructuring the rest of the roster becomes the immediate focus for the Hornets. They are going to have to make firm decisions on restricted free agents PJ Washington, Miles Bridges and Théo Maledon, as well as unrestricted free agents Kelly Oubre, Dennis Smith Jr., and Svi Mykhailiuk. The latter three can sign with any team and the Hornets wouldn’t necessarily have the opportunity to match the offer.

Teams can begin negotiating with free agents at 6 p.m. on Friday, but moves can’t be officially inked until noon July 6. Here are five things you should know about the Hornets leading up to the start of the league’s flurry of player movement later this week.

Salary cap space is scarce

Don’t anticipate a huge free agency spending spree.

Few teams have actual salary cap space and the Hornets aren’t one of them at the moment. They rank 12th in the league currently, according to spotrac.com, and that’s not going to improve much because most of their space is earmarked for their own free agents.

Estimated to enter the new league year when it begins on Saturday with roughly $40 million in salary cap space, the only true way for Charlotte to get some actual relief is to either renounce the rights of some of their free agents (a rarity) or trade one of the team’s high-priced veterans like Gordon Hayward or Terry Rozier.

Although Hayward is earning more than Rozier, his contract expires at the end of next season, making him a potential candidate to get shipped to a contender looking for a one-year rental. Don’t be surprised to hear the names of either brought up in potential scenarios over the coming days, weeks or even months.

PJ Washington’s market watch

When the deadline to sign a rookie extension deal elapsed in October, PJ Washington knew then he had to bet on himself if he wanted to get paid.

Both sides weren’t close on agreeing to Washington’s worth, leading to him playing out the final year of his pact before hitting restricted free agency this summer. All Washington did was go out and turn in the best of his four seasons as a pro.

Washington averaged a career-best 15.7 points per game, amassing 1,144 points to surpass the 1,000-point plateau in a season for the first time. He was also extremely key down the stretch of games, finishing 19th in the NBA with 33 made field goals in the clutch — which is when the difference in the score is five points or fewer in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime. He knocked down 54.2% of his attempts in clutch time, ranking only behind Miami’s Bam Adebayo, new Phoenix Sun Bradley Beal and Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox.

On top of all that, Washington was extremely durable, starting in all 73 games he appeared in before sitting in the season’s final four outings. He’s seeking a sizable payday and has multiple potential suitors who could vie for his services depending on how the market shapes up, per league sources.

Return for Oubre unlikely

More than once during the season — and again during exit interviews — Kelly Oubre left little doubt about his desire to play for the Hornets beyond the expiration of the two-year, $24 million contract he signed in 2021.

Oubre has been a good fit and improved each year in Charlotte, recording career bests in points (20.3) and steals (1.4) per game this past season. Showing he wasn’t just jump-shot happy, he also added another element to his repertoire, driving 7.2 times per game in 2022-23. That’s the most in a single season in his career and is double the number of times he put his head down and went to the rim in his initial campaign with the Hornets.

Plus, don’t forget the scoring outburst to begin the season, registering double figures in his first 34 appearances — a personal best. His effectiveness as a starter or reserve gave the coaching staff options when searching for ways to fill voids in the Hornets’ oft-injured main rotation.

But all that may not be enough to earn Oubre another pact with the Hornets.

With Miller’s arrival, Hayward still here and, barring something unforeseen, Miles Bridges in the mix again (we’ll expand on that in the next section below) Charlotte is pretty stocked at the wing position. And that doesn’t even take into account Cody Martin, who appeared in only seven games in 2022-23, and Bryce McGowens.

So, there’s really no room for Oubre. Meaning unless the Hornets thin out a suddenly overcrowded position, a return is unlikely. He’ll probably have to wait through the first few waves of free agency before finding a new home.

Bridges still on radar

It’s been more than a calendar year since Miles Bridges’ last appearance at the Novant Health Training Center. As he initially closed in on restricted free agency 12 months ago, Bridges didn’t train in Charlotte as he had the previous offseasons, instead choosing to stay away while he weighed his options beyond the Hornets.

So, there will be a reintroduction of sorts in the coming weeks.

That’s because nothing, as the Observer previously reported, has changed with the Hornets’ interest in bringing Bridges back following his no contest plea to felony domestic violence in November. After the draft, Kupchak didn’t want to discuss any specifics of the team’s dealings with Bridges, who will be suspended for 10 games in 2023-24 before he’s eligible to play.

“That’s a tougher topic,” Kupchak said. “He’s been gone a year and it’s difficult to kind of wade through in a press conference like this.”

Still, make no mistake: He’ll be back with the Hornets. Bridges’ expected return will be interesting because it’s unclear how the former starting power forward will be slotted into the Hornets’ rotation, particularly with the 25-year-old missing two handfuls of games prior to him taking the floor in the regular season.

Uncertainty for DSJ

No one on the team had quite the renaissance of Dennis Smith Jr.

An afterthought for many who inked a non-guaranteed deal just before the outset of training camp, Smith resurrected his career with the Hornets in monstrous fashion. He solidified himself as the team’s top defender, collecting a career-best 1.4 steals per game and a single-season high of 75 total.

According to Cleaning the Glass, Charlotte’s defense improved by 10.7 points per 100 possessions when Smith was on the court, representing the second-best number for any player who’s played at least 1,000 minutes).

Those kinds of tangibles are exactly what the Hornets need, which paired with Smith’s strong desire to play for coach Steve Clifford, should equate to a no-brainer. But there’s uncertainty where things are headed with Smith at the moment.

Someone has to serve as LaMelo Ball’s backup and not having Smith in the same role he excelled in during his seven-month stint in Charlotte — unless he finds a more lucrative deal elsewhere on the market - would be a serious head-scratcher.