Resetting after the NBA Trade Deadline: Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks reinvent themselves
By Phil Watson
Charlotte Hornets
What they did:
- Let me do the math here … nothing into nothing, carry the nothin’ …
What it means
The Charlotte Hornets haven’t made a move at the trade deadline since 2018 and that wasn’t exactly a blockbuster — Johnny O’Bryant and 2020 and 2021 second-round picks to the Knicks for Willy Hernangomez.
That deal was struck under former general manager Rich Cho, so this makes two consecutive years of deadline inactivity for Mitch Kupchak.
Since a 6-7 start, the Hornets are just 10-28; they have lost four in a row, 12 of 13 and 18 of 21. Not great, Bob.
Charlotte is 25th in the NBA with a 105.5 offensive rating, 27th in the league with a 113.5 defensive rating and 27th overall with a true shooting percentage of 50.4. But at least they are 26th in the NBA with a 48.6 rebounding percentage, so there’s that.
The Hornets are projected to finish at No. 6 in the NBA Draft based on record (but as we saw last season with the new flattened lottery, strange things can happen) and the club also has two second-round picks — Cleveland’s (acquired in the 2018 draft night deal for Miles Bridges) and Boston’s (acquired in the Terry Rozier sign-and-trade and is top-53 protected).
Their own, more valuable, second-round pick went to New York in the Hernangomez trade in 2018.
Outlook: The Hornets have a plan … maybe …
Chicago Bulls
What they did:
- Punched in, did little after that
What it means
The Chicago Bulls under vice president of basketball operations John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman still don’t have a clear idea what they are doing.
That would be one thing if this was a new management team. But Paxson was GM from 2003-09 before taking on his current post and hiring Forman as his replacement. So they’ve sort of had at least some time to put some sort of plan together.
As for the team on the court, coach Jim Boylen prompted his players to contact the National Basketball Players Association over his tactics — never a good sign — and generally seems to run his program with all the joy of the Bataan Death March.
The Bulls have lost four straight games overall, are just 11-16 at the United Center this season and rank 28th in offensive rating (105.0). Chicago really should be better than 19-34 with a minus-2.8 net rating — the Bulls are roughly three wins worse than their numbers show them to be — but that could be placed on the plate of Boylen, who clearly makes his team miserable.
To think the Bulls might be pining away for the good, happy days of Tom Thibodeau … yikes.