How Bad are NBA GMs? Ep. 4 - Charlotte Hornets
In this series I will be breaking down every impactful transaction in the NBA to better understand the performance of the average NBA GM. Since the vast majority of decisions made by GMs cannot be proven to be good or bad immediately, we will start in the year 2018. Weight = how impactful the action is/was for the franchise. Rating = quantifying the decision in hindsight from 1-10, 10 being excellent and 1 being terrible.
GM - Rich Cho (2011-2018) /
Mitch Kupchak (2018-present)
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| Credit: Kent Smith - Getty Images |
The Hornets greeted 2018 with a 14-23 record and things would not get much better from there. Long-time GM Rich Cho was still in charge, though it would only take a couple months for him to lose his job to Mitch Kupchak.
Feb 7 2018 Johnny O'Bryant, PF Traded to New York (NYK) from Charlotte (CHA) with 2020 2nd round pick and 2021 2nd round pick for Willy Hernangomez
This was by no means a salary cap move. By all appearances, either the Knicks thought O'Bryant was good, or Charlotte thought Hernangomez was good. Neither would be correct, though the latter would be better. Still, two 2nd rounders is a little steep for a borderline-rotational player. This would be GM Rich Cho's final transaction as he would be fired in April.
Weight: 60% Rating: 2/10
May 10 2018 James Borrego, COACH Signed a 4 year contract with Charlotte (CHA)
Jury is still out on Borrego. He's won only 43% of his games at Charlotte to this point, but, when looking at their rosters, that seems to be about par for the course.
Weight: 90% Rating: 5/10
Jun 21 2018 Miles Bridges, SF Traded to Charlotte (CHA) from Los Angeles (LAC) with 2020 2nd round pick and 2021 2nd round pick for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Kind of a crazy, bizarre deal during the draft. The Clippers moved up one spot in the draft (from 12 to 11) for Gilgeous-Alexander. From Charlotte's perspective, it probably seemed like a no-brainer at the time. As it stands, Shai is nearly at All-Star level, while Miles just breached low-level-starter production in 2020-21. The two 2nd rounders ease the blow.
Weight: 90% Rating: 4/10
Jun 21 2018 Devonte' Graham, PG Traded to Charlotte (CHA) from Atlanta (ATL) for 2023 2nd round pick and 2019 2nd round pick (#44 - traded)
Kupchak demonstrated excellent talent-identification here. It's a bold move, not even two months into his career as the Hornets' GM, but it turned out to be real nice.
Weight: 50% Rating: 8/10
Jun 21 2018 Hamidou Diallo, SG Traded to Charlotte (CHA) from Brooklyn (BKN) with Timofey Mozgov , 2021 2nd round pick, $5 million and [to be processed in July] for Dwight Howard
Brooklyn just wanted Dwight's expiring deal, and Charlotte was happy to oblige. Diallo is a useable player, and Kupchak managed a 2nd rounder from Brooklyn on top. It's tough to call this a bad trade for Charlotte, though it did hamper their flexibility in the following free-agency period.
Weight: 60% Rating: 6/10
Jun 21 2018 Arnoldas Kulboka, SF Drafted by Charlotte (CHA): Round 2 (#55 overall)
Kulboka has yet to play a minute in the NBA.
Weight: 20% Rating: 1/10
Jul 6 2018 Hamidou Diallo, SG Traded to Oklahoma City (OKC) for 2019 2nd round pick and cash considerations
"Cash considerations" just means someone's pockets were lined. Since Diallo is basically at low-level-starter status now, we've gotta give Kupchak the 'L' here.
Weight: 40% Rating: 3/10
Jul 7 2018 Timofey Mozgov, C Traded to Orlando (ORL) from Charlotte (CHA) as part of a 3-team trade: Chicago (CHI) traded Jerian Grant to Orlando (ORL); Orlando (ORL) traded Bismack Biyombo and 2019 2nd round pick to Charlotte (CHA); Charlotte (CHA) traded Julyan Stone to Chicago (CHI); Charlotte (CHA) traded 2020 2nd round pick to Orlando (ORL)
Neither Mozgov nor Stone would play another NBA minute. So, yes Biyombo sucks but... besides that they basically just swapped a '20 pick for a '19 pick so that has to be considered a 'W'.
Weight: 50% Rating: 6/10
Jul 22 2018 Tony Parker, PG Signed a 2 year $10 million contract with Charlotte (CHA)
Parker would play one more year in the NBA and it was terrible. I would cut the deal some slack for the 'wise-old-man' factor, but I doubt any of those kids could understand Parker's accent anyway.
Weight: 30% Rating: 2/10
Conclusions:
Kupchak was hired into a tough spot, but not at all the worst spot. That weird Johnny O'Bryant trade did not help. Still, Kupchak failed to make a splash or even really set himself up to make one in the future. His 2018 could be described as slightly more miss than hit.
Total Impactful Decisions: 9
Weighted Average Transaction Rating: 4.5/10 Ranked #4 (out of 4)
Big Decision (70%+) Average: 4.5/10 Ranked #3 (out of 4)
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