Tre Mann of the Charlotte Hornets
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MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE - OCTOBER 10: Tre Mann #23 of the Charlotte Hornets reacts during the first half against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum on October 10, 2024 in Memphis, Tennessee. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)
Just yesterday, the Charlotte Hornets made a trade that seemed to take advantage of the curious decisions of others. They traded Jusuf Nurkic to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Collin Sexton, getting both younger and better in the process, the kind of trade that a perpetual struggler like the Hornets should be looking to make.
It is striking, then, that they have concurrently also done the opposite of that.
Despite how cheap it was to do, and despite Mann’s much improved play, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports that the Hornets have decided not to extend a qualifying offer to four-year point guard, Tre Mann. Mann will now enter unrestricted free agency, whereupon he will have many suitors, all of whom will be delighted to learn that the barrier of restricted free agency has now been removed.
And it need not have been.
Michael Scotto
Just In: The Charlotte Hornets declined to tender Tre Mann his one-year, $6.94 million dollar qualifying offer, sources told @hoopshype. Mann becomes an unrestricted free agent after averaging 14.1 points, including 40% from 3-point range, 3.0 assists and 2.9 rebounds in 13 games
Tre Mann, NBA-Caliber Scorer
Although he played and started in 28 games down the stretch of the 2023-24 NBA season after his arrival from the Oklahoma City Thunder as a piece of the Gordon Hayward trade, Mann only played 13 times for the Hornets last season due to a herniated disc in his back. Nevertheless, in that time, he was able to record a 14.1 points per game scoring average in only 24.5 minutes per night off the bench, alongside 2.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.
The Hornets have had a disjointed offensive unit, so short of options and veteran stability that LaMelo Ball has been given free reign to take all manner of difficult attempts, as someone has to do something. For that 13-game stretch, though, Mann was able to help him out. While Mann’s ball dominance, shot selection, small stature and defensive lapses might make him best long term as a sixth man rather than as a starter – be it alongside Ball or elsewhere – there is nothing wrong with that as a prognosis. Mann, when healthy, can score the ball against NBA defences.
It is therefore quite the surprise to learn that the Hornets have opted not to extend Mann’s qualifying offer, which would only have been for $6,964,982. NBA half-court scorers and shot creators are not easy to come by, especially for that price. Yet the Hornets are about to let one leave.
Hornets Hope For Better Value Elsewhere
Extending the one-year, $6,964,982 qualifying offer does not necessarily mean that Mann would have returned to the Hornets at that price. It is one option among many, certainly, yet Mann would want a longer deal than that, and one with more money in it.
What it would have done, though, is make Mann into a restricted free agent. This would give the team matching rights to any deal he signs with any other team. This is a huge piece of team-friendly leverage. And they have just given it away.
Potentially, this might be because of payroll concerns. Between Ball, Sexton, Miles Bridges, Josh Green and Grant Williams, the Hornets have $109 million tied up at the top of their rotation, with only 19 wins to show for it. It is perhaps understandable if they do not want to spend too much money keeping together a team that is not very good.
Mann can, of course, still re-sign with the Hornets even without the qualifying offer, as the Brooklyn Nets will be hoping to do with Day’Ron Sharpe, who also did not receive a qualifying offer this week. The Nets, however, have cap space that it behoves them to explore, before circling back to Sharpe afterwards.
The Hornets do not. They just balked at the price.
Hornets’ Sexton Trade May Have Factored
Perhaps the Hornets would not have balked at the price were it not for the trade with the Jazz, as the arrival of Sexton could mean Mann loses his role on the team. Sexton is a very similar type of player to Mann, just several more years down the line, and despite Mann’s improvements in his time as a Hornet, he only reaches Sexton’s level at the most favorable end of his possible projections.
Nevertheless, Sexton’s arrival should not preempt Mann’s departure. Not at that price. The Hornets do not need perfect roster balance at this time; they just need more talent. That means keeping on to what they have, consolidating its value, and working the precise details of its core out later.
This means not letting talented scorers walk unchallenged. But this is what is seemingly about to happen. A market short of good lead guards just got another, and a team short of NBA talent just gave up the rights to keep one.