Stay or go? Sizing up the Hornets’ newest additions

TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Seth Curry’s age (33) could work against him if the Hornets move to go younger with the 2024-25 roster, but contractually, at one more year at $4 million, he’s a bargain.

The Charlotte Hornets prioritized building for the future at the trade deadline, but after a hot start with a brand-new rotation, Steve Clifford and the Hornets’ buzz has faded.

After Charlotte’s first and only four-game win streak of the season, the honeymoon phase ended with a six-game losing skid – one for every mid-season addition. In part one of a two-part series, we took a look at which newcomers should stay, and who should go, over the offseason. Age, contract, upside, skill set and fan interest were all taken into account.

At 18-54 overall, eight of those wins came after the trade deadline. With just 13 games to play, chances of seeing LaMelo Ball and Mark Williams return seem slim to none, meaning this rotation of newcomers is here to stay – at least through the end of the season.

Even with hometown favorites Seth Curry and Grant Williams returning Charlotte, one new addition has stood out among the rest.

Vasilijie Micic

The Serbian sixth man has a nice ring to it, and while Micic has been pushed into the starting lineup due to a variety of injuries, that’s the role the 30-year-old rookie will be fighting for when Ball returns  – whether this season or next.

Micic has scored in double figures in eight straight games, including a career-high of 25 points on 9-10 shooting against the Grizzlies earlier this month, just two games after posting a career-best 10 assists against the Nets.

Since 1997, Micic is the oldest rookie to score at least 20 points in an NBA game. Opponents are taking note, and Phoenix’s Devin Booker told reporters that Micic is atop the scouting report.

“He played his [butt] off, but we knew that coming into the game,” Booker said. “He played really well last game, too. He was one of the guys that was top of the scouting report, and he still played well.”
While Micic’s play has continued to progress, the rookie (veteran) is still finding his place with the Hornets.

“I’m still trying to find myself. It’s a mix of what’s happening,” Micic said. “We have a lot of injured players and it’s something that opened a lot of room for me in terms of minutes. But at the same time, I’m at the age of 30 and I’ve kind of shaped my game already. I’m coming from five years of playing the same way.

“It’s not easy to adjust to fit in the team that needs more of a creator or passer — whatever it is, and I’m just trying to find the mix to still be aggressive, to still be capable of also scoring. But at the same time playing the right way.”

After being taken 52nd overall in the 2014 draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, Micic returned to Europe where he would land EuroLeague MVP and Final Four MVP awards in 2021 and 2022.

In 2023, Micic inked a three-year, $23.5 million contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder – at an average of $7.8 million per season. With two years remaining on his deal, Micic provides Charlotte a relatively inexpensive floor general to lead the second team – or starter in Ball’s absence.

At the deadline, Charlotte traded primary ballhandlers Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier, as well as waived guards James Bouknight, Ish Smith and Frank Ntilikina  – leaving a huge portion of backcourt minutes available, especially with Ball sidelined. But Charlotte needs availability as much as it needs talent right now, and they haven’t gotten it just yet with another veteran guard in the fold.

Seth Curry

Despite the sentimental aspect of the Curry family reunion – uniting Seth with his father Dell and wearing the same jersey number as his dad – the 33-year-old guard hasn’t brought the same level of performance on the court as excitement with the fan base.

Curry has missed the past two weeks with a right ankle sprain, thinning what has already been an anemic rotation for much of the season with what feels like a continuous car wash of injuries. Since joining Charlotte at the trade deadline, Curry is shooting a career-worst 32.1% from beyond the arc (in seasons where he’s played more than three games).

Curry signed a two-year, $8 million contract with Dallas in 2023-24, meaning that his 2024-25 salary of $4 million is non-guaranteed and he is slated to be an unrestricted free agent in 2025.
While Charlotte could retain Curry at a low-end salary, it seems the youth infusion is the motive.

Davis Bertans

Bertans, known as the Latvian Laser, is known almost exclusively for his ability to take and make the long ball. And he hasn’t been afraid to take them in the slightest. Of his 116 shot attempts as a Hornet, 99 have come from beyond the arc.

Connecting on 37.4% of his three-pointers and netting 9.1 points per game, Bertans has proven to be a streaky shooting stretch-four – but his production doesn’t come close to matching his price tag. While Ball is currently making upwards of $11 million a year ahead of his rookie extension kicking in next season, Bertans is currently Charlotte’s most expensive player at $17 million in 2023-24.

With one year left on his deal at $16 million in 2024-25, expect the Hornets to move on from the 6-foot-10 forward, likely slotting him to his sixth team this off-season.

Comments