The Charlotte Hornets introduced James Borrego as their new head coach Friday; it’s the first official job for Borrego, who did serve as an interim coach in Orlando four years ago. He was an assistant under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio both before and after the Orlando stints.
But the other newsy tidbit from the Borrego introduction was from new GM Mitch Kupchak, who said not to expect wholesale changes, at least at the moment anyway, to the Hornets’ roster before next season.
That comes as somewhat of a surprise, given the disappointing season and failure to make the playoffs and the current salary cap situation. The Hornets are paying eight figures to six players, Dwight Howard and Nic Batum are making in excess of $20 million a season, the club was No. 12 on the team salary list and are committed to paying at least $118 million next season which would be a marginal increase.
Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer spoke with Kupchak and Borrego and here’s his report:
A month into the job, Charlotte Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak said Friday no major roster makeover is in the works.
“There is no master plan to blow up this team right now,” Kupchak said during the team’s news conference to introduce new coach James Borrego.
Note the qualifier “right now.” The lottery to determine the draft order among non-playoff teams will be held Tuesday evening in Chicago. The Hornets will have a chance – a very slight one – to move up to one of the top three picks. As Kupchak mentioned in his first extended comments since being introduced in Charlotte a month ago, settling the draft order could prompt more “interaction” between NBA general managers that might eventually lead to trades.
Also, only a handful of the NBA’s 30 franchises are expected to have room under the salary cap when the league’s new fiscal year starts July 1.
That was conveyed to Borrego in the interview process. As Kupchak put it Friday, “When he was hired, the understanding is he is going to coach the players (already) on this team and the players we bring into this team going forward.”
Borrego said he was comfortable with that, saying he anticipates most of the improvement between now and training camp in late September will be “internal.”
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