After a successful near-decade of Euroleague play, Micic came to the NBA in 2023 as a 29 year old. He struggled to really make an impact as a rookie with the Thunder, and was traded to the Hornets mid-way through the '23-'24 season. He quietly played pretty welll for the Hornets, but the Hornets were not really trying to win during the latter parts of the season, which make it harder to evaluate Micic. At 6'5", Micic has good size for a point guard, and it allows him to see passing opportunities that he wouldn't be able to have if he were smaller. He averaged over six assists per game as a rookie after being traded to Charlotte. He's more of a pass-first, traditional point guard that are becoming more and more rare in today's NBA. The shooting has to improve for Micic to be a threat offensively. He only hit 30% of his 3-pointers as a rookie, and wasn't effective from midrange. He did finish well at the rim, but didn't get there all that often. He shot much better during his career in Europe, so maybe he just needs more time to adjust to the NBA 3-point line. He isn't the most athletic player, which hurts his ability to create space off the dribble when trying to create shots for himself. Defensively, Micic is helped by having decent size, but that's about all he has going defensively. He gets very few blocks and steals, and doesn't really rebound at all. He isn't all that quick laterally, and could be someone that teams target if he were ever in a playoff series as an actual rotation player. Micic will be 31 years old as a potential free agent in 2025, so there's a chance teams could worry about him regressing if he were to sign a long-term contract. However, Micic hasn't really played up to the level where a long-term contract is really on the table anyway. However, we have seen European veterans take a year to really adjust to the NBA, and it will be interesting to see how effective Micic is in '24-'25.

Micic has an $8.1 million team option for 2025-2026, and if that option is declined he will be a restricted free agent with a $10.4 million cap hold and Qualifying Offer, and the Hornets will have his Early Bird rights. If the Hornets re-sign Micic using the Early-Bird Exception, they could offer him a starting salary of up to 105% of the average salary (roughly $13.5 million), which should be enough to retain him. They could offer him more than that by using cap space, but if they needed to do that they would instead simply pick up his option. Since Micic will only have two years of service, he will be subject to the Gilbert Arenas provision if he is given a QO. This means that any offer sheet he signs with a team besides Charlotte can have a starting maximum salary of $14.1 million, but the third and potentially fourth years of that contract can have a large jump (up to the max). His cap hit would then be the average salary over the life of the contract. If the Hornets match, they could choose for his cap hit to either be his actual salary per season or the average over the life of the contract, provided the average fits within the Early Bird Exception or cap space.  I do not expect the Arenas provision to come into play for Micic, as I think any offers for him would fit within the full Non-Taxpayer MLE over the length of the contract. Especially considering if his interest was that high, the Hornets would probably just pick up his option. There's also a chance that the Hornets just pick up his option to have some tradable expiring salary, especially if the opportunity cost of keeping him around is low.

Faccundo Campazzo (2 years, $7 million, 2020) Milos Teodosic (2 years, $12 million, 2018) Raul Neto (1 year minimum, 2022)