Milwaukee Bucks: 3 teams to monitor leading up to 2020 NBA Draft night

Milwaukee Bucks: 3 teams to monitor leading up to 2020 NBA Draft night – Charlotte Hornets

Just like the Pistons, the Charlotte Hornets are one of the rare teams to have cap space this offseason.

Their rebuild will be spiced up with whoever they take with the third overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft and they have some interesting building blocks in place, whether it’s Devonte’ Graham, Terry Rozier and PJ Washington.

As Lowe speculated in his offseason preview, Charlotte could choose the route of acquiring long-term contracts with picks attached to them to sweeten a potential deal. Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer reiterated that line of thinking based on the recent comments of Charlotte general manager Mitch Kupchak:

"“Kupchak doesn’t plan to be a big player in this free-agent market. I expect him to sign a player or two, but probably more complementary parts, like a rebounder or 3-point shooter. That means if Kupchak uses the cap space, it will likely be via trades: Picking up a veteran or maybe accepting a bad contract in return for a future draft pick.”"

Now rumors are being bandied about that the Hornets could be in the market for disgruntled Houston Rockets All-Star guard Russell Westbrook as first reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania last week. While the option of going through the biggest name available may prove to be the most alluring to Charlotte and their ownership led by owner Michael Jordan, taking the more patient route could lead them to adding more draft picks to their rebuild.

Save for this year’s pick, the Bucks can’t attach many major assets from the draft chest without going into years down the line, potentially when they’re without their superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. That would be incredibly risky, but so is anything the Bucks are tinkering with doing going into next season.

As far as what the Hornets could offer them, could someone like Terry Rozier, especially after a career year all across the board, interest the Bucks? With one less year committed to him and his bloated salary declining in each of the next two years, he could be a worthy addition.

Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo reported that the established backcourt of Graham and Rozier won’t be a determining factor if either oen of LaMelo Ball or Anthony Edwards, two of the top projected picks in this draft, are still on the board. Whether they would feel the same if a veteran point guard/ball handler was on the market this offseason is not yet known, but they are obviously weighing the pursuit of Westbrook.

How everything shakes out for the Bucks going into draft night Wednesday night remains to be seen, but anything is on the table as far as what may occur in regards to their draft selection.