The Hornets have endured a disappointing 2017-18 campaign. They were expected by many experts to compete for the playoffs, but instead they have been on the outside looking in all season. They're too good to rebuild and too bad to make any use of it -- the worst place to be in for a franchise. As a result, they decided that it was time to move on from current general manager Rich Cho.

Former Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak, who was already the front-runner for the job soon after the announcement, appears to have the position locked up. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Hornets are close to hiring Kupchack.

Kupchak was the Lakers' general manager from 2000-17 before he was removed midway through the 2016-17 season so the franchise could hire Magic Johnson. During that time, he oversaw four championship teams, but he's best known for putting together the Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol team that won two championships and went to three consecutive NBA Finals. 

However, near the end of Kupchak's regime in Los Angeles, he swung and missed on the type of big-name free agents the Lakers had been known to acquire in the past. Toward the end of his stint in Los Angeles, the Lakers were overpaying Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng in free agency, and eventually the team moved on.

It will be interesting to see how he does in a different environment like Charlotte. The stakes are the same as any other NBA job, but the Hornets aren't exactly known for bringing in huge names. In Los Angeles, Kupchak had built up a nice young core of players that the Lakers could build with as assets or future pieces. He might get another chance to do something like that with the Hornets, if they give him the time.