Charlotte Hornets: Should They Make A Trade?
Should the Charlotte Hornets explore a trade to upgrade their roster?
The Charlotte Hornets might be asking themselves, “Are we out of the woods yet?” They finally snapped their seven-game losing streak with a Wednesday night victory over the Atlanta Hawks and now their schedule eases up a bit.
If they can dispatch the struggling New Orleans Pelicans and Milwaukee Bucks this weekend they’ll bring their winning percentage back to .500. But, one win doesn’t fix everything. There is most likely still a section of fans or even front office members that believe they need a trade to shake things up.
One month ago this would have been a ridiculous notion. The Hornets were 13-8 and briefly spent time as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. Their uniquely deep roster, highlighted by a balanced offensive attack and Steve Clifford’s usually stingy defense, is something you wouldn’t want to mess with. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
It’s funny how a few injuries and a seven game losing streak can reveal unseen cracks in the foundation. At this point, I don’t think they’d hesitate to make a trade that they believe will help permanently turn things around.
It’s hard to pin down exactly where the Hornets need to improve their roster. When completely healthy, the rotation is pretty much set. They have Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lin to hold down the point guard spot. P.J. Hairston, Jeremy Lamb and Nicolas Batum make up the wing rotation. The big man rotation consists of Marvin Williams, Spencer Hawes, Cody Zeller and occasionally Tyler Hansbrough.
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The best elixir is really just getting healthy. Al Jefferson returning from his meniscus surgery to replace Hawes and Hansbrough would add scoring in the paint, while Michael Kidd-Gilchrist bumping Hairston from the rotation would tighten up the defense and add an offensive rebounding presence on a team that doesn’t make offensive rebounding a priority.
However, their return dates are not set in stone. Rich Cho and Michael Jordan may want to make a change before those two return to the court.
The only concrete rumor surrounding the Hornets has been with Brooklyn Nets wing Bojan Bogdanovic, who came to the NBA with the reputation as a knockdown shooter.
The problem with Bogdanovic is he hasn’t been much more than a league average shooter through his first two seasons. This season he has played in 39 games and is averaging 9.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game on 42.2 percent shooting and 33.6 percent from three-point range. For his career he is a 34.8 percent three-point shooter.
Perhaps he could find time on the wing and replace the streaky P.J. Hairston? That seems unlikely. Hairston has struggled with his shot until lately, and though he’s only shooting 32.3 percent from three-point range, he’s just starting to find his stroke and Steve Clifford is fond of his defensive contributions. Hairston has also started all 35 games he has appeared in.
Bogdanovic is not taking Jeremy Lamb’s minutes, Lamb is having a career year averaging 11.2 points per game off bench, and he’s not taking second leading scorer Nicolas Batum’s minutes. Why trade for him just to sit him on the bench or play him 10 minutes per game?
What about down low? In the small-ball NBA Bogdanovic could make an impact as a stretch-4, even if that’s not his natural position. However, it would be just as tough for him to find minutes in Charlotte as a stretch-4.
The Hornets already have three-point shooting bigs in Marvin Williams (currently shooting 37.2 percent from outside), Spencer Hawes (38.9 percent three-point percentage) and rookie Frank Kaminsky (32.2 percent from deep), who they want to continue to develop. Bogdanovic isn’t taking minutes from any of those guys, even if they acquired him with the intention of switching positions.
So that eliminates Bogdanovic from consideration, unless they are fine with giving up on Hairston. The team would have to weigh whether or not the offensive upgrade is worth the significant defensive downgrade. For what it’s worth, a trade involving Hairston and third-string point guard Brian Roberts for Bogdanovic does work on ESPN’s NBA Trade Machine.
Is there anyone else the Hornets could make a move for? The trade market is pretty barren at this point. There’s nothing out there worth getting excited over. Conceivably, every other Brooklyn Net is also available, but there’s not a player on their roster the Hornets should consider. Brook Lopez isn’t an option because of his large contract, nor is Thaddeus Young. They should steer clear of a suddenly over the hill Joe Johnson and after those three there isn’t much to speak of in terms of trade-worthy assets.
Elsewhere the pickings are also slim. The most popular names that are rumored to be on the trading block don’t fit in Charlotte. Lou Williams wouldn’t make sense, Ryan Anderson would add shooting but he would take away minutes from Kaminsky and worsen the defense. Brandon Jennings doesn’t fit when they already have two scoring point guards in Walker and Lin.
At this point I’m of the opinion that the Hornets should not make a trade. When this roster is healthy they are a potent offensive team with a top 10 defense. The primary starting lineup of Walker, Hairston, Batum, Williams and Jefferson is still +10 points per 100 possessions in 161 minutes together. The bench unit that includes Lin, Lamb, Williams, Kaminsky, and Hawes is +21.6 points per 100 possessions in 89 minutes played. When this team is healthy, they’re darn good.
Adding some bit player like Bojan Bogdanovic or a washed up veteran like Joe Johnson would only run the risk of ruining the chemistry that made the Hornets early season contenders.
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Keep the band together and hope that you’re still in contention by the time Jefferson and Kidd-Gilchrist are ready for action. At the very least they should let the market develop before dipping their toe in the trade waters. Better to not make a trade at all then to make the wrong trade.