Three years ago, the Charlotte Hornets decided Bismack Biyombo wasn’t worth a $4 million qualifying offer. Saturday, that same franchise committed to paying Biyombo $34 million.
The Hornets, Orlando Magic and Chicago Bulls completed a trade late Saturday that sends center Biyombo back to Charlotte, where his NBA career started in 2011. The Hornets send newly-acquired center Timofey Mozgov to the Magic and Julyan Stone’s un-guaranteed $1.6 million contract to the Bulls.
The Hornets also receive a second-round pick each in the 2019 and 2020 drafts.
Biyombo’s and Mozgov’s contracts roughly match. Biyombo has this season and next season left on his contract, paying him $17 million each of those seasons.