Hornets officially offer Mitch Kupchak general manager job
By Nir Regev
The Charlotte Hornets have officially offered their general manger job to former Los Angeles Lakers GM, Mitch Kupchak.
As the old adage goes, “Do it Mitch!” According to New York Times sports journalist Marc Stein, the Charlotte Hornets have offered the General Manager role to Mitch Kupchak and expect to “seal the deal” soon. The Kupchak era in Charlotte is about to be signed on the dotted line, literally any minute now. Kupchak is responsible for league changing moves over his Los Angeles Lakers tenure. His trades were always the talk of Tinseltown and beyond, championships were decided in pre-season. The Shaquille O’Neal to the Heat and Pau Gasol to the Lakers trades being the most prominently remembered.
Even trades that never came to pass like Chris Paul to the Lakers would have changed the face of the sport. Despite some criticism over the length/money of signed contracts in his last two years with the Lakers, Kupchak always had the best of intentions for the team. He’ll get a well deserved second chance over on a Charlotte Hornets team just out of the the playoffs.
Notable talents Dwight Howard, Kemba Walker, and Nicolas Batum, the center of the Hornets’ playoff future. Kupchak previously tried to resign Howard to the Lakers after trading for him to no avail. Howard left after one year, leaving the team who’d lost Nash to injury in limbo. Will Mitch let bygones be bygones or will he seek to trade Howard for younger talent and fully rebuild?
The Charlotte @hornets have formally offered their GM post to Mitch Kupchak and are confident they can soon seal a deal with the longtime former Lakers executive, according to league sources.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) April 2, 2018
There’s two roads for the Charlotte Hornets to travel. One of “The Process”, where they escape the so-called NBA treadmill and fully rebuild around draft picks, trading their coveted talent or make one more big move. Meaning, they keep their three primary stars and trade for a major name. The Hornets are just on the cusp on the playoffs at 10th seed in the East, on the outside looking in. If the team can stay healthy and bring one more name, they have a great chance next year.
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Kupchak is the type to formulate championship level teams, and not stay in limbo longer than necessary. So the question is does he think one major name like DeMarcus Cousins for example, could be that key addition? We’ll find out what Kupchak’s first moves are this summer, if he accepts. Which currently at the time of this article’s publishing, all signs point to yes.