This is a special contribution from former ATH writer DA Sweat.
With the Charlotte Hornets trading Terry Rozier to the Miami Heat for a future first round pick and Kyle Lowry, who won’t actually suit up for the team, the front office is signaling the team’s ongoing, unsuccessful rebuild will continue.
It didn’t have to go this way for the Hornets.
Back in the summer of 2021 Charlotte was tantalizingly close to taking a major step forward and becoming a competitive playoff team. The window of opportunity opened for the Hornets but quickly slammed shut after a fateful 10-day period from late July to early August of 2021.
Had Charlotte’s front office led by Mitch Kupchak made a few different decisions over that week and a half period back in 2021 the Hornets could be a young, competitive playoff contender today. Instead they’re 10-32 and just traded away Terry Rozier, who was putting up near All-Star level numbers this year, in exchange for a future first round pick.
In the summer of 2021 all Kupchak & Co. needed to do was properly evaluate in-house talent and nail the draft to fundamentally alter the franchise’s trajectory from loser to contender.
They failed on both fronts.
Here’s a painful look back at the fateful 10-day stretch that ruined the Hornets rebuild.
Remembering the 2020-21 Hornets Roster
Back in 2020-21 the Charlotte Hornets went 33-39, finished 10th in the Eastern Conference, and made the Play-In Tournament. Despite their sub-.500 record, there was optimism in Charlotte. The Hornets appeared to be a team on the rise. Here is the notable in-house talent with their season ages (per Basketball Reference) that the Hornets already had on the roster:
Core Starters
- PG LaMelo Ball, 19 – Won Rookie of the Year
- SG Terry Rozier, 26 – Averaged a career-best 20.4 points on 39% 3-point shooting
- SF Gordon Hayward, 30 – Put up 19.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists on 42% 3-point shooting but missed 28 of 72 games
- F Miles Bridges, 22 – Flashed upside with a solid third NBA season averaging 12.7 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting 50% from the field and 40% from the 3-point line
- PF PJ Washington, 22 – In his second NBA season he averaged a respectable 12.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, and solid defensive stats
Core Reserves
- PG Devonte’ Graham, 25 – Averaged 14.8 points and 5.4 assists on 38% 3-point shooting
- SG Malik Monk, 22 – Averaged a career-best 12.7 points while shooting 40% from the 3-point line in his fourth NBA season
- SF – Caleb Martin, 25 – The second-year undrafted forward averaged 15.4 minutes over 55 games and emerged as a capable wing defender but a liability on offense
- SF – Cody Martin, 25 – The No. 36 pick in the 2020 draft finished his second NBA season averaging 16.3 minutes over 52 games and, like his twin brother Caleb, emerged as a capable defender with a limited offensive game
The Hornets exited the 2020-21 season with those nine core players poised for better things to come. Every player except for Gordon Hayward was exiting their age-26 season or younger, with Ball, Bridges, Washington, and Monk ending their age-22 seasons or younger.
The talented young core was in place.
Then, over a critical 10-day period in the summer of 2021, all the Hornets front office needed to do was nail the draft and retain the right players.
Looking back, the Hornets front office did almost everything wrong.
July 29, 2021 – The 2021 Draft Day Disaster
The Hornets entered the 2021 draft loaded with guards and wings.
Charlotte needed a big man – or big men – in this draft. The duo of Cody Zeller and Bismack Biyombo were not part of the long-term plan. Power forward PJ Washington was young and capable but hadn’t flashed All-Star potential.
When the time came for the Hornets to make their pick at No. 11 most of the “best players available” were guards and wings, the exact positions the Hornets already had covered. The best available post player was Alperin Sengun, an 18-year-old center who had just led the Turkish 1st Division in per-minute scoring and offensive efficiency, a remarkable result for a player so young.
Instead of going big, the Hornets selected shooting guard James Bouknight at No. 11. The crowded backcourt of Ball, Rozier, and Graham just got even tighter with the addition of Bouknight. The next four players selected were all guards and wings. Then, at No. 16, the Houston Rockets traded up for Alperen Sengun.
Three picks later the Hornets traded back into the first round to draft center Kai Jones at No. 19. Jones was both athletic and raw after averaging just 8.8 points and 4.8 rebounds as a sophomore at Texas. Charlotte’s front office knew he was a high-risk, high-reward project.
One pick later, the Atlanta Hawks selected 6-foot-9 power forward Jalen Johnson at No. 20. Johnson himself was also a risk after playing just 13 games at Duke before shockingly ending his season and leaving the team to prepare for the NBA draft. But when he played for the Blue Devils he was solid, averaging 11.2 points and 6.1 rebounds while shooting 52.3% from the field and 44.4% from deep.
Fast forward from the 2021 draft to today and James Bouknight is barely hanging on to the fringes of the Hornets roster while Kai Jones is out of the NBA.
Meanwhile, Alperen Sengun is developing into an All-Star in Houston averaging 22.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game. And it’s not unfair, revisionist history to question Kupchak for selecting Bouknight over Sengun, either. Following the draft The Athletic’s John Hollinger said the Hornets should have drafted Sengun over Bouknight given the big man’s skills and the Hornets glut of guards. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony said after the draft, “Alperen Sengun has a chance to be rookie of the year, or at least put up the type of numbers that will put him firmly in the conversation.” Givony then said, “Sengun will likely walk into 25-30 minutes a game for Houston, and there’s no reason to think he won’t put up big numbers.”
The Hornets had the same need for a big man as the Rockets and the same opportunity for Sengun to make an impact as a rookie. Houston was smart enough to trade up and fill their void at center with the young Turkish phenom while the Hornets front office decided to add another guard to their already crowded backcourt.
After botching the No. 11 pick by taking Bouknight over Alperen Sengun, the Hornets then whiffed by taking Kai Jones over Jalen Johnson. Johnson, the player selected immediately after Kai Jones, is having a breakout season in Atlanta averaging 14.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game, and he’s only getting better.
The Hornets could have had Alperen Sengun and Jalen Johnson anchoring their front court. Instead they got James Bouknight and Kai Jones.
Not only did the Hornets draft the wrong players, their selections would set off a chain reaction of events that nuked the promising core Charlotte had assembled.
August 2, 2021 – Hornets Trade Devonte’ Graham
By the end of the 2020-21 season Devonte’ Graham had become the third wheel in the Hornets backcourt that featured LaMelo Ball and Terry Rozier.
But as we can learn from a tricycle, sometimes third wheels are necessary.
Graham joined the Hornets as the No. 34 pick in 2018 via trade with the Atlanta Hawks. The 6-foot-1 point guard broke out in 2019-20, his second NBA season, by averaging 18.2 points and 7.5 assists per game. The following season (2020-21) the Hornets drafted LaMelo Ball and Graham played a secondary role, but still averaged 30 minutes per game and delivered an impactful 14.8 points and 5.4 assists with solid shooting marks.
With the Hornets having just drafted James Bouknight and with Graham’s rookie contract expiring, Charlotte’s front office deemed Graham as expendable. Rather than re-signing the 26-year-old with his Bird Rights intact (thus allowing the Hornets to go over the cap to sign him), Mitch Kupchak sent Graham to the New Orleans Pelicans in a sign-and-trade that yielded cash and a 2022 first round pick that became center Mark Williams.
Graham signed a four-year, $47 million contract with the Pelicans, which was fair at the time given his level of production with the Hornets. While his career has fallen off a cliff since leaving Charlotte, for some reason Devonte’ Graham and the Hornets made for a successful pairing.
It would have been in everybody’s best interest for the Hornets to have just re-signed Devonte’ Graham back in 2021 as the anchor of the second unit and to fill in for an oft-injured LaMelo Ball.
August 2, 2021 – Hornets Don’t Re-sign Malik Monk
Malik Monk played four up-and-down seasons in Charlotte after the team selected him No. 11 in the 2017 draft. As a one-and-done college phenom who averaged 19.8 points as a freshman at Kentucky, Monk was just 19 years old when he made his Hornets debut. One game he could score an efficient 20 points and the next night he could go 2-for-12 and appear generally disinterested. He was suspended in 2020 for 27 games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
While Monk’s time with Charlotte was rocky, he showed year-over-year improvement. In 2020-21 he averaged a career best 11.7 points on 40% 3-point shooting. As his rookie contract came to an end in the summer of 2021 the Hornets could have re-signed him to a cheap contract extension while retaining his Bird Rights. Instead they let Monk walk as a free agent.
After being shown the door by Charlotte, Malik signed a 1-year, $1.8 million contract with the Lakers and immediately saw his game improve in La La Land. In 76 games with the Lakers he averaged 13.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.9 assists while shooting a career-high 47% from the field and a solid 39% from the 3-point line.
After one season with the Lakers, Monk signed a 2-year, $19.4 million contract with the Sacramento Kings. He is now an essential part of a playoff team. This year he’s averaging a career high 15.0 points and 5.5 assists in Sacramento.
August 7, 2021 – Hornets Waive Caleb Martin
Ten days after the Bouknight-Jones draft the Hornets front office decided to waive Caleb Martin. Charlotte had two full seasons to evaluate his performance and potential, and they concluded he didn’t deserve a roster spot on a sub-.500 team.
After being waived by Charlotte Caleb quickly signed with the Miami Heat and, like Malik Monk, immediately saw his game improve. Martin went from an offensive liability in two seasons with the Hornets, shooting just 39% from the field and 32% from the 3-point line, to a capable scorer and solid wing defender with the Heat. Over the last three seasons in Miami he has averaged 26.4 minutes, 9.6 points, and 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting 48% from the field and 38% from deep.
Like Malik Monk, Caleb Martin is now an impact player on a playoff team.
Caleb is also playing on a team-friendly 3-year, $20.4 million contract.
The Hornets either didn’t know what they had in Caleb Martin or they lacked the coaching and support to develop him. Either way, the decision to flat out waive the better Martin brother was the wrong move to make.
What Could Have Been in Charlotte
If the Hornets would have made the right calls during that fateful 10-day period in the summer of 2021, here’s what the roster could have looked like for the last three seasons:
Guards – LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Malik Monk, Devonte’ Graham
Wings – Miles Bridges, Gordon Hayward, Caleb Martin
Bigs – Alperen Sengun, Jalen Johnson, PJ Washington,
That’s a solid 10-deep lineup.
That’s a playoff team with an incredibly bright future.
And that’s how fickle the NBA can be.
Over 10 disastrous days in 2021 the Hornets drafted the wrong two players (Bouknight and Jones over Sengun and Jonhson), let two now valuable free agents walk (Monk and Martin), and made a so-so sign-and-trade trade (DeVonte’ Graham on his expiring contract).
Had the Hornets simply kept the core together for the 2021-22 season and added Alperen Sengun and Jalen Johnson in the 2021 draft, it’s likely they’d be a sustainable playoff team at this point.
Charlotte’s window for success opened for 10 days in the summer of 2021.
Mitch Kupchak’s front office let it slam shut.
As Terry Rozier now departs Charlotte, it’s unclear when that window will open again.
Thanks to our old pal Mr. Sweat for making a cameo on ATH. Everyone say hi.
