After a flurry of small moves over the past week, the Charlotte Hornets made one that has bigger ramifications as training camp nears.
Nick Smith Jr. was waived on Thursday, ending his career in Charlotte after two years. His hold on a roster spot appeared tenuous throughout the offseason due to the number of guards the Hornets acquired, beginning with trading for Collin Sexton and re-signing Tre Mann in free agency.
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Pat Connaughton was also brought on board and the release of Smith almost certainly means the veteran will be on the roster when training camp begins at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C. on Tuesday. Connaughton is in the final year of his deal and doesn’t quite fit into Charlotte’s timeline, so the Hornets could still look to eventually move him to a team in search of backcourt experience off the bench.
Smith appeared in 111 career games for the Hornets, making 27 starts, and averaged eight points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 18.9 minutes. The Hornets him with the 27th overall selection in 2023 out of Arkansas following the guard’s freshman season.
He was in the same class as Brandon Miller, whom Smith played AAU basketball with, and coach Charles Lee even remarked recently how Miller was watching game film with Smith over the summer, taking him under his wing.
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Parting with Smith comes a week after the Hornets waived DaQuan Jeffries. The Hornets needed a roster spot to sign some free agents to retain their G-league rights and have spent the better portion of the past week adding and releasing one player per day to have them available to play for the Greensboro Swarm if they don’t land standard NBA contracts from other teams.