Charlotte Hornets: 2019-20 NBA season preview

Storyline #1: Will the Hornets be able to shed one of their larger contracts?

It’s no secret the Hornets have some onerous contracts on their payroll. The biggest contract still has the organization on the hook for this and next season in the form of Nicolas Batum. 2020-21 is technically a player option for him, but it’s hard to imagine Batum not opting into over $27 million next offseason.

The good news is that the Hornets have three other looming contracts coming off the books after 2019-20. Bismack Biyombo is set to make $17 million this season while veteran Marvin Williams is making $15 million and swiss army knife Michael Kidd-Gilchrist opted into $13 million.

Williams is still a decent contributor on the floor at the age of 32. He put up 10.1 points per game and hit 36.6 percent of his 3-point attempts, turning himself into a valuable stretch 4. While he started all 75 of the games he appeared in, he could have competition from Miles Bridges this year as the starting power forward. If he still starts, he may not get the consistent minutes he’s used to either.

Biyombo was one of the team’s four centers last season as Kaminsky was usually delpoyed as a center when on the court; but that left Biyombo struggling to find minutes unless Cody Zeller was out with an injury.

However, Biyombo didn’t do much on the court as far as counting stats go. He put up just 4.4 points per game, scoring 10 or more points just five times last season. He wasn’t a big rebounder either, averaging just 4.6 boards per game.

The last big contract is defensive specialist Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, a player that, for the first time in his career, wasn’t an everyday starter. MKG was able to play in 64 contests, but only started three of them as Borrego preferred him to come off his bench.

MKG even became somewhat of a 3-point shooter as his 47 attempts in 2018-19 were more shots he took from beyond the arc his whole career up to that point. But he’s probably the biggest question mark of the big contracts. Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer asked MKG where he may fit with the team.

"“I don’t know,” Kidd-Gilchrist said. Have they communicated with him much about that? “No comment,” Kidd-Gilchrist replied."

Borrego’s push for giving younger players more playing time could make a huge impact on MKG. He may not get on the court enough this season to attract possible suitors, so there’s a chance the Hornets could go the route of buying his contract out.

Mitch Kupchak would obviously love to get some value out of each of these contracts if he can find a possible trade partner, but Marvin Williams’ value is hurt due to his age, Biyombo hasn’t shown enough to be considered a valuable trade asset and MKG may not get on the court enough for teams to gauge him properly.

At least all three contracts come off the books after this season.