Mitch Kupchak Discusses Recent Trades
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00:00 Well, welcome everybody.
00:02 I'm my voice.
00:03 I'm a little under the weather, so you're going to have a little raspy voice.
00:06 And I'm sure they've told you that we're we're in Barcelona right now.
00:12 We just arrived about an hour ago, Buzz Peterson and I.
00:16 So got a game tonight and we're going to have dinner with our our draft
00:22 choice, James Najee from a year ago.
00:24 So big, exciting day for us.
00:28 Yeah, before I open it up to questions, it's probably a good idea for me to
00:33 thank PJ and Gordon.
00:36 You know, we had other players that won't be on the team as well, but I
00:42 think Gordon and PJ, you know, the time they put in and you know, the
00:48 minutes and you know, on and off the court, you know, I know Gordon wishes
00:54 he could have, you know, been healthier.
00:56 And played more in his four years here, but I'm happy, you know, that he
01:03 gets to go to a place and and win, right?
01:07 That's not going to happen for us this year.
01:09 So I'm happy for him and PJ.
01:12 I think it was tough on PJ.
01:14 I know he's from Dallas.
01:15 But you know, I did speak to them both yesterday and you know, he was
01:21 emotional.
01:22 In fact, last night at the airport, I didn't see him, but Buzz ran into
01:27 him.
01:27 He was on his way to Dallas, you know, to check in for his physical.
01:32 So I think Buzz even said he got a little teary-eyed.
01:37 So anyway, I just want to acknowledge, you know, you know, them both.
01:43 They were great, you know, hard to lose players like that.
01:45 I've been doing this a long time.
01:46 It's never easy to do, you know, to call up a player and talk to a player.
01:50 So, but we did, you know, do a lot yesterday.
01:55 And you know, I don't have a lot to, you know, go through in terms of
02:03 the details of the trades.
02:05 I think the best way to proceed right now would be just to open it up
02:08 to questions.
02:08 Great.
02:10 I'll turn over to you, Mr.
02:13 Lissette.
02:13 Obviously, this is the first trade deadline where you're working with
02:18 the new owners.
02:19 I see Gabe is on right now.
02:20 Hello, Gabe.
02:21 What was it like working with them in this fashion on the trade
02:26 deadline?
02:26 Well, you know, I did this in LA for many years and I think Dr.
02:33 Buss came to, you know, one
02:35 trade deadline meeting and, you know, with Michael, you know, Michael
02:45 was very involved.
02:48 Didn't come very often, but Gabe and Rick, you know, you could feel
02:54 their energy.
02:55 They were in the building.
02:55 Very, very, very involved.
02:59 You know, to be honest with you, shockingly knowledgeable that I didn't
03:06 realize that they had, you know, so much knowledge about the players
03:11 and, you know, we met every day beginning last week.
03:17 You know, we had a room where, you know, six or eight of us met and
03:21 very involved, very energetic, very passionate.
03:27 And, you know, every owner that I've been with, there's been some,
03:31 you know, a lot of good stuff.
03:32 So I'm not saying one's better than another, but this was great.
03:38 You could feel the energy and the passion that they both have, you
03:43 know, for this organization to make this team better and not only on
03:49 the court, but in the community.
03:50 Let's go to Skyler.
03:54 Hey Mitch, just wanted to talk about the decision, I guess, to not trade
04:00 Miles.
04:00 I know he had that veto power.
04:02 There was the report that he didn't want to approve any trade.
04:05 Could you confirm that?
04:06 And I guess with that, is there hopes that you guys be able to figure
04:10 out a long-term deal in the summer?
04:12 Yeah, this is not a simple, you know, conversation to have.
04:18 It's pretty complex, right?
04:20 You know, without going into great detail, you know, when you sign a
04:24 qualifying offer, you know, you lose your bird rights if you're traded
04:30 and you also get the right to approve a trade.
04:34 So, you know, you do have a lot of, you know, good stuff, right?
04:40 Because you get to approve a trade, but you don't, you know, when you
04:45 get traded, your bird rights don't go with you.
04:47 So, you know, you have to rely on representation to really help you
04:53 navigate something like this.
04:54 This is not something that a player, when you have that much control,
04:57 you can really navigate on yourself.
05:00 So, we did, you know, frequently check in with his representative.
05:07 And because it's the trade deadline, you know, you can imagine, you
05:13 know, that there were a lot of calls.
05:15 And of course, during the trade deadline, you don't know who's going
05:18 to call, you don't know what it's about.
05:19 So, you take it and you have conversations.
05:21 So, that took place.
05:23 You know, I'm not sure what I can say with the league in terms of, you
05:30 know, free agency going forward.
05:33 You know, there are certain rules, but I feel comfortable saying that,
05:37 you know, Myles has been with us.
05:39 We drafted him.
05:40 And he's certainly having, you know, a great year getting better and
05:46 better as the season goes along.
05:47 And I don't see why we wouldn't want him to be a part of this team for a
05:51 long, long time.
05:51 Thanks.
05:54 Let's go with Rod and then Steve.
05:55 Hey, Mitch, just first question is, how do you think these moves that
06:01 you guys made yesterday have set you up?
06:03 For the future, for success, to be able to do what you want to do come
06:07 this summer?
06:08 What's a pretty open-ended question.
06:11 I would say, you know, first off that I think we're more balanced, you
06:16 know, as a team, you know, if you look at the positions, of course, we
06:20 have an injury at the at the center position with Mark, you know, that
06:24 that's lingering, that's going a lot longer than we thought.
06:26 So, we still do need some help there, right?
06:29 But, you know, we really balance the roster, you know, in the backcourt.
06:33 We're hopeful that LeMelo gets back, you know, soon and then, you know,
06:40 our bench will perform better than, you know, the bench we had, right?
06:46 You know, we've added, you know, veterans, not just, you know, one or
06:51 two, but three, four, five, six veterans, right?
06:53 So, you know, that part I think we'll see immediately, you know,
06:59 beginning tonight, well, not tonight, actually tomorrow when they, you
07:02 know, get their physicals and pass, you know, and also maybe just as big
07:09 as getting the players, right?
07:11 And I'm also lumping in the Terry Rezia trade, you know, getting the
07:14 pick from Miami, you know, a very lightly protected pick and then the
07:19 pick we got yesterday, you know, you know, they have tremendous upside,
07:25 right?
07:25 A lot of times you get a pick, it's protected, it's doing a one through
07:28 14, one through 10, one through 10, and then it goes to two second rounds,
07:33 right?
07:33 And there's really not much upside.
07:35 Both these picks, you know, have a tremendous amount of upside, you know,
07:40 we can wait it out and see how they play out in terms of where they end
07:45 up and as a number and then we can draft the player or going forward,
07:50 you can use that pick, you know, to make a deal work, right?
07:53 And, you know, they are valuable picks.
07:56 Okay, they're out there a little bit, very little protection.
07:59 So they would be valuable.
08:00 Yes, if you held on to it and drafted and you got lucky or even if you
08:05 put them in a deal before the draft actually took place.
08:07 And then also you actually mentioned Mark Williams.
08:12 I want to ask you about Mark.
08:13 So you over there visiting James right now, Mark's been out for almost
08:17 two months now with his back.
08:18 You mentioned it's kind of a little bit longer than what you thought.
08:20 Just where is he at physically?
08:22 Is it concerning that it's actually worse than maybe you guys thought
08:25 initially?
08:26 Well, okay.
08:29 Yeah, I brought it up probably shouldn't have right and this is about the
08:32 trades.
08:32 Okay, but to answer your question, it's it is taking longer.
08:37 He did see a specialist within the last week and it will just take some
08:45 time and he expects 100% return to play.
08:51 Okay, so there's nothing here that's going to create a problem with his
08:56 career going forward.
08:57 And I think the way we left it and Brian, I know you're listening.
09:01 I think our next update would be probably four weeks or something like
09:07 that.
09:07 I think the last thing we said was, you know, we'll be re-evaluated in
09:11 six weeks.
09:11 I can't say I expect them to play four weeks from now.
09:16 You know, it's yeah, it's taking longer than we thought and it's it's
09:22 not just a contusion, you know, we just get hit and you get a bruise.
09:25 You know, it's a little bit more than that and it's just going to take
09:30 you know, some time to heal but we expect you know, he saw a specialist
09:34 that's supposed to be the best in the country recently and we expect, you
09:38 know, 100% return to play.
09:42 Just go to Steve.
09:43 Hey, it's Steve Reeve from the AP.
09:45 I just wonder if you can kind of address like the big picture.
09:49 I mean, you traded, you know, three, you know, guys who are pretty big
09:52 cogs in this machine, you know, with Terry and Gordon and PJ.
09:57 What is you look back, you know, what what made you want to do that?
10:03 And is it a a build for several years down the road that you're feeling
10:08 unlike or you know, kind of what went into the whole thinking of, you
10:12 know, trading those three and how long do you think it's going to take
10:15 to kind of right to get this head in the right direction?
10:18 Yeah, I don't I don't know if Scott's on here, but if you are as I was
10:24 expecting, you know, the rebuild question.
10:26 So,
10:27 the answer to the question is going into the season, right?
10:35 We felt or at least I felt right that we could contend for a playoff
10:41 spot.
10:41 I don't know what that means in terms of wins and losses, right?
10:46 This lot of good teams in this league.
10:48 There's a lot of good teams in the east, but certainly, you know, I
10:51 think we all felt that we would be better than what we are today.
10:54 Now, the injury part of it can't cannot be denied, you know, with with
11:00 Lamello and Gordon and Mark, you know, and so forth and so on, right?
11:05 So, yeah, we could say, hey, listen, you know, let's sit tight.
11:08 Let's sit, Pat, you know, everything's going to be okay next year.
11:12 You know, we got the injury bug this year.
11:15 So let's just get through it.
11:16 You know, you get a good pick and you go from there.
11:18 Well, you know, you are what your record says you are, right?
11:22 We've got 10 wins and to just sit and do nothing.
11:26 Yeah, we didn't feel was the prudent thing to do.
11:28 Okay.
11:29 And, you know, I point to Rick and Gabe, you know, more than anybody,
11:34 right?
11:35 They wanted to be aggressive.
11:37 They did not want to sit and just assume that this team is going to be
11:41 healthy next year.
11:42 You know, we are what the record says we are, right?
11:45 So, you know, our feeling was is to, you know, get out balance the team
11:52 better, you know, add some veterans that's going to help our younger
11:57 players in the locker room and more importantly or more just as
12:01 importantly, right, you know, get assets, you know, that we can use to
12:06 set ourselves up, you know, down the road.
12:08 And now I'm talking about the draft compensation, which is a huge part
12:14 of, you know, what took place in the last three or four years.
12:16 So to sit back and just do nothing probably wouldn't have been the
12:21 wise thing to do.
12:22 We could have done it and just got a good pick and added to it and felt
12:28 that maybe, okay, we'll be good next year.
12:30 Like we thought we would be this year.
12:32 But we didn't think that was the way to go and Gabe and Rick really
12:38 pushed it and, you know, quite frankly, I think it was the thing to do
12:42 and I'm glad we did it.
12:44 Let's go to Carbone.
12:46 Hey Mitch, thanks for doing this.
12:52 I wonder if you could talk specifically about one of the players you
12:56 brought back and Trey Mann and what you think he can add to your team
13:00 right now and then kind of the projection you might have for him.
13:03 Well, we don't have much to go on this year, right?
13:07 Because he hasn't played much, you know, he's fallen out of favor in
13:10 OKC, you know, his first year he played a lot of minutes and I think
13:16 as a young rookie, I'm not quite sure in the 20s he averaged minutes
13:20 and, you know, went down a little bit his second year.
13:24 You know, OKC is one of the better teams in the league right now and
13:31 the minutes are just not there for him.
13:33 You know, he's available, you know, we're hoping that the kid that we
13:41 saw the first two years is the kid that we're going to get here in
13:47 Charlotte.
13:47 You know, he's, I wouldn't categorize him as a point ball handling
13:54 guard.
13:54 I wouldn't say he's a two guard.
13:56 I would say he feels, you know, I spoke to him yesterday.
13:58 He can do a little bit of both.
14:00 Right, but he's eager to, you know, get a chance to play.
14:04 He's so young still that there's just an incredible amount of upside
14:09 there.
14:09 So, you know, we're hopeful that we can get him on the court, get him
14:13 minutes.
14:14 We've got him next year as well.
14:16 He'll be in our facility throughout the summer and we'll get to know
14:20 him much more than we'll know him in the next four, you know, eight to
14:24 ten weeks.
14:25 So, yeah, you know.
14:29 Let's wrap up with Will.
14:35 Hey Mitch, in terms of bringing back Seth and Grant, obviously we know
14:42 the Charlotte connection with those two.
14:44 Was it a concerted effort to get those two because of that or just
14:48 based on the team that you were dealing with?
14:51 Yeah, no, it just worked out that way.
14:53 You know, I will say, and I don't know how he knew, but we did get a
15:01 text from Dell yesterday before we actually did the deal and somehow
15:07 he knew that there was a discussion.
15:09 Okay, so Dell did chime in, but the fact that they both have Charlotte
15:16 connections really had nothing to do with the fact that they were
15:18 traded to us.
15:19 That's all I ask.
15:21 Let's go to Jeremy.
15:23 Hey Mitch, I just kind of want to talk about Davis, Breton, Seth Curry
15:28 and Grant Williams and how, what was your thinking behind getting those
15:31 players kind of adding them as complimentary pieces with Lamello and
15:34 Brandon as they can be effective off the ball and add some shooting onto
15:37 this team as well.
15:38 Yeah, I think you got it.
15:41 You got it pretty good.
15:41 And there's also, you know, you know, draft assets were in those deals,
15:48 right?
15:49 So, you know, we tried to cover, you know, all the bases, you know, make
15:53 get ourselves a more balanced team, you know, with players that, you
15:58 know, would balance the, you know, the roster, but also in the locker
16:02 room, you know, we feel we've done that and, you know, looking down
16:06 the road with, you know, draft capital, you know, we feel we've done
16:10 that as well.
16:11 So, you know, it's a combination of the two.
16:15 All right, let's wrap up with one last question to Rod and then we'll
16:19 be done.
16:19 Yeah, Mitch, just with Kyle Lowry, just want to ask you about him and
16:22 just working as a rat with that.
16:24 You mentioned before we traded for him that you could potentially move
16:27 him in another deal.
16:28 Obviously didn't happen.
16:29 Just where you at with him and what's going on with his bio potentially,
16:32 I guess, to see if he can go somewhere else to do what he wants to do.
16:36 Yeah, I think there'll be resolution there.
16:39 Hopefully 2448 hours.
16:41 Don't have much more to share with you right now.
16:44 Other than that, you know, yes, he is still a part of the team.
16:49 He's one of our roster players, but you know, I think you know, he's not
16:53 in Charlotte right now.
16:54 So we hope to have resolution there probably 2448 hours.
16:58 All right.
17:00 Thank you all very much.
17:01 Thanks Mitch.
17:02 Thanks to you guys.
17:03 I heard pregame tonight.
17:04 Thank you.