NBA Notes: Hornets, Coby White, Lakers, Luka Doncic, Hawks

Hornets

The Hornets have moved from LaMelo Ball to Coby White at point guard, and Zach Roberts of NBA on SI offered an interesting way of looking at the change: Charlotte may have lowered its ceiling while raising its floor.

That sounds about right. White isn’t the passer or creator Ball is, and he isn’t likely to produce many of the spectacular nights Ball could. He’s also been a steadier player, particularly when it comes to taking care of the ball.

Roberts noted that White owns a career turnover percentage of 12.0, compared to 14.4 for Ball. White also has shot 43.4 percent from the field for his career, while Ball has topped that number in a season only once.

So perhaps there will be fewer fireworks. The Hornets may be OK with that if it also means fewer nights when the entire operation goes sideways.

White was acquired at last season’s trade deadline and is now expected to run an offense that also features Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel. Sometimes boring isn’t such a bad thing.

Lakers

Former Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic apparently sees something different in Luka Doncic entering this season. Specifically, leadership.

Doncic hosted his Lakers teammates for an offseason minicamp in his native Slovenia, mixing basketball with golf and some general team bonding.

“It’s been there and what Luka has been doing, he’s showing the leadership,” Vujacic told ESPN Los Angeles, via Ryan Ward of NBA on SI. “I think he’s finally a Laker, Laker.”

That last part is probably the important part. This is Doncic’s team now following LeBron James‘ departure, and bringing his teammates to Slovenia certainly seems like one way of embracing it.

“For him to bring the team to Slovenia to show them where he comes from, to show everybody what Slovenia is all about, I think they have a better understanding of what it means for him to be in L.A. and through his journey how important it is to win,” Vujacic said.

The Lakers will hold media day Sept. 28, followed by their first official training camp practice the next day.

Hawks

The Hawks announced several changes to their basketball operations department Tuesday, including a promotion for Peter Dinwiddie and the official addition of longtime NBA reporter Tim Bontemps.

Per Jackson Caudell of NBA on SI, Dinwiddie has been promoted to executive vice president of basketball operations, effectively making him the No. 2 basketball executive behind president Onsi Saleh.

Bontemps, whose move from ESPN was reported earlier this summer, will serve as a strategic advisor.

Atlanta also promoted Maxwell Kupchak to director of cap strategy and player personnel. Kupchak previously spent four seasons in the Hornets’ organization.

It’s been a summer of considerable change around Saleh. Bryson Graham departed to run the Bulls’ basketball operation, while former assistant general manager Kyle Korver also left the organization.

Meanwhile, the Hawks have remade plenty of the roster while maintaining future flexibility. They added Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins, Devin Carter and Ryan Nembhard, among others, while also accumulating contracts that could eventually be used in another trade.