Hornets makes final decision on veteran sharpshooter
The Charlotte Hornets have their work cut out for themselves this offseason. They finished the 2023-24 NBA season with a dreadful 21-61 record that put them towards the bottom of the Eastern Conference with Washington and Detroit. If Charlotte wants to get themselves out of the gutter, they will need to make some smart decisions this offseason to bring in new talent. The Hornets made room for new players by parting ways with one of their veteran sharpshooters.
According to The Athletic's Shams Charania , Latvian forward Davis Bertans has been waived by the Charlotte Hornets. Bertans had a partial guarantee on his contract, which the Hornets will be on the hook for.
Charlotte chose to waive Bertans during the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament semifinal game where Latvia was playing against Cameroon.
The Hornets acquired Bertans in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder midway through last season. That trade also involved players like Vasilije Micic and Gordon Hayward.
Charlotte was the sixth NBA team Bertans has played for during his lengthy professional career. Bertans now has a chance to up that number to seven teams. He will likely have to sign a veteran's minimum deal at his next location.
The 31-year-old sharpshooter has averaged 6.7 points and 1.4 rebounds per game in the NBA with a shooting percentage of 39.3%.
Bertans can now solely focus on the Latvian national team. They will face Brazil in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament finals with the hopes of earning a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Hornets waive Aleksej Pokusevski, re-sign Miles Bridges on busy Saturday
The Hornets continue to make important moves today.
Charlotte agreed to terms with Miles Bridges on a three-year, $75 million contract . The deal keeps the talented forward in Buzz City for at least the next three seasons.
Bridges has been up and down over the past few years, but the Hornets clearly want to make him a part of their future moving forward.
Bridges missed the entire 2022-23 season after he was involved in a domestic violence case. That initially led to a 30-game suspension, which ultimately led to him missing the whole season and being given credit for 20 games served. Therefore, he missed the first 10 games of last season as well.
Once he got back onto the court, he did everything he could to earn a new contract. He averaged 21 points per game, 7.3 rebounds per game, 3.3 assists per game, and 46.2% shooting percentage from the floor last season.
The Hornets also made a move to waive Aleksej Pokusevski today, per Shams Charania .
Pokusevski is a former first-round pick who the Hornets picked up in February. The Minnesota Timberwolves selected Pokusevski with the 17th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. His career immediately got off to a weird start, as his draft rights were traded two days later to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a three-team trade.
He had his moments with the Thunder, but missed some time between December 2022 and March 2023 with a tibial plateau fracture in his left leg. Pokusevski was waived by the Thunder on February 23rd and picked up by the Hornets a few days later.
Pokusevski is still incredibly young at 22 years old. He is expected to land on his feet with another NBA team.
