Earlier this week, Adrian
Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that the Charlotte Hornets are open to
trading their star point guard Kemba
Walker due to an excess of bad contracts and untradeable assets. The
Hornets are currently 11th in the Eastern Conference with an 18-25 record and
are nowhere close to contending. Walker is having another really good season,
averaging 21.7 points, 5.8 assists, and 1.2 steals per game, putting himself in
the mix for another all-star appearance. Walker turns 28 in May and still
has plenty of good basketball ahead of him, making him a very attractive trade
chip.
The Hornets have a couple of talented young guys in Frank Kaminsky and Jeremy Lamb, but they are still a couple of years away from being
serious impact players. Those are guys who they can build around for the future
provided they get some more assets, something that Walker can get them if they
give him up.
Typically, I'm against giving up guys like Walker since it's
really hard to come by guys like him, but it really feels like the Hornets have
backed themselves into a bit of a corner due to their inability to make a
strong playoff push this year or next with the present pieces that they have.
Getting Dwight Howard was a last
ditch effort to become competitive and so far he has not yielded the type of
fruit that they were hoping he would. If the Hornets could get some quality
assets for Walker to help them build for the future, that would probably be the
best thing for them to do.
Of course, trading Walker only makes sense if you actually can get
something good for him. You don't want to trade him for the sake of trading
him. If you're going to move him, you better demand a high price and make sure
you get something close to what he's worth. The Hornets should be able to get
an attractive package for him, but they better make sure they play their cards
right and don't make the mistake of giving him up for free.
Personally, my guess is the Hornets will move Walker, but it'll
happen right at the trade deadline. They should take their time with this one
and really field all the offers that they can. The longer they wait, the better
the offer they'll get and the more they'll be able to leverage other offers
that are out there. Walker is a good enough player that a quality contender
looking to make a move will be willing to give up a lot to get him.
As far as what this all means for the direction of the Hornets,
they're basically hitting the reset button should they move Walker. They're
looking at a 2-3 year rebuilding process at minimum, which is never easy to
sell to fans. However, if they really do get the right type of assets, they
should be back in the playoff picture in the near future and give themselves a
much better chance at actually winning a playoff series and making some noise
in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
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