The Charlotte Hornets have formally offered their vacant general manager position to former Los Angeles Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak, as both sides near an agreement, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times.

The Hornets are confident Kupchak's University of North Carolina ties with owner Michael Jordan and interim GM Buzz Peterson would be an offer hard to resist for the former front office extraordinaire.

Kupchak had previously denied any contact with the organization when asked earlier in March.

“Nope. Nope,” he told Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. “Nothing. Nothing at all.”

The 63-year-old executive was named as a frontrunner for the position by ESPN, after the departure of former GM Rich Cho in February. Jordan and vice chairman Curtis Polk have been interviewing candidates, hoping to make a hire as soon as April with the regular season coming to an end in mid-April.

Kupchak was fired by the Lakers in February of 2017 after spending 35-plus years with the organization in many different roles. Most notably, he led the franchise to a three-peat (2000-02) as an heir to former GM and Hall of Famer Jerry West, who hoped to replicate the success of the Lakers with the last-place Vancouver Grizzlies.

As an NBA player, Kupchak averaged 10.2 points and 5.4 rebounds in a 10-year tenure with the Washington Bullets and the Lakers.