CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ Charlotte Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak won't let "rebuild" slip from his lips.
"Transition" is the word he prefers to describe his team's life without Kemba Walker.
But rebuild, the Hornets must. And rebuild, they will.
"If there is a master plan, it is to transition from a team built around a superstar to a team built around our young players and a style of play," Kupchak said Wednesday.
Coach James Borrego is under no special obligation to play the five veterans carried over from last season who combine to make $85 million in 2019-20. He is emphatic that guaranteed salaries aren't his problem when training camp opens Oct. 1.
"I'm not going to coach a team based on contracts, what you're making, where you were drafted, if you were drafted," Borrego said. "To me, that's not my job. My job is to get the most out of them, whether they were drafted or not drafted."
In an exclusive interview with the Observer, Kupchak and Borrego discussed a summer of abrupt change that started with the franchise's all-time scorer, Walker, leaving for the Boston Celtics. That caused Kupchak to pursue Terry Rozier, a signing that required Boston's assistance via a sign-and-trade.
The pivot is in motion: The Hornets won eight of their last 12 games last season after turning minutes over to young guys Dwayne Bacon, Miles Bridges and Devonte Graham. Expensive veterans such as Nic Batum and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist will get a fair chance to compete, but they've already been informed the agenda is youth and development.
"More than ever, these young guys are going to get a crack at minutes," Borrego said.
"We're not going to have draft picks on our bench who are just sitting there. If they're not playing meaningful minutes for us in Charlotte, I promise you they will be playing minutes in Greensboro" with the Hornets' G-League Swarm.
In a wide-ranging conversation, Kupchak and Borrego revealed new details on Walker's departure, why Walker wasn't traded before reaching free agency, the plan for lottery-pick PJ Washington, and an overall strategy that values drafting-and-development over free agency.
