Charlotte Hornets: 2018-19 NBA season preview

2018-19 Roster

Key Additions: Miles Bridges (draft), Devonte’ Graham (draft), Tony Parker (free agency), Bismack Biyombo (trade), Arnoldas Kulboka (draft)

Key Subtractions: Dwight Howard (trade), Michael Carter Williams (free agency), Julyan Stone (trade), Treveon Graham (free agency)

The Hornets didn’t sit idly by this offseason, but outside of the draft, they didn’t make a lot of noise. Kupchak made smart draft picks and he got the organization under the luxury cap by trading Dwight Howard.

The big news was not moving Kemba Walker as many thought this summer, and they’re still tied to Nicolas Batum and his massive contract. Overall, the offseason was still a win though for the Hornets.

To get under the luxury cap threshold, the team traded Howard to the Brooklyn Nets (who bought out his contract), but had to take back Timofey Mozgov. However, he got traded a month later to the Orlando Magic for Bismack Biyombo.

Draft day provided a little excitement as the Hornets drafted Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at first, but traded his rights to the Los Angeles Clippers for the rights to Miles Bridges while picking up two second round draft picks. Kupchak then took two of his arsenal of second round picks to trade up to 34th overall with the Atlanta Hawks for Devonte’ Graham.

Miles Bridges should be able to provide an immediate impact off the bench with his explosiveness and ability to defend multiple positions. He’s already shown off his skills in the preseason too, finishing with 23 points and six rebounds in the team’s second preseason game.

Devonte’ Graham is a point guard the Hornets will look to develop, and they have the ability to do so with Tony Parker putting on a jersey that isn’t silver and black for the first time in his NBA career. Parker represents an upgrade over Michael Carter-Williams, who left for the Houston Rockets, and he knows James Borrego. TP should be able to help guide the team as it transitions to a new system.

Going back to the Howard trade, the Hornets finally landed a cheap center in Bismack Biyombo. He should have a chance to compete for minutes at center, but Cody Zeller is back and healthy, Willy Hernangomez is poised for a rebound season and Frank Kaminsky could get some time at center as well. Biymobo’s contract should mean solid minutes, but he could potentially get lost in the shuffle at center pretty quickly.

Borrego has his work cut out for him in his first full-time head coaching gig, but Kupchak is doing his best to give him players that he can work with. Still, a new coach and new system leads to a few questions….