The Charlotte Hornets are stuck in the mire that is being a middling team. Kemba Walker is scintillating. Dwight Howard is having a career rejuvenation. Somehow, the Hornets still didn’t manage to make the playoffs. The Hornets are stuck with multiple albatross contracts for the foreseeable future. This team needs to do something to escape its current situation, either moving for more talent or undergoing a full-scale rebuild. Here are the two courses of action that Charlotte can take to fix their franchise.
Option 1: Blow it Up
The Hornets could easily decide that this team has no long-term viability and tear it down to the foundation. That would mean getting rid of quite a few players, namely Kemba Walker, Dwight Howard, and Nic Batum. Those three command significant salary cap space. None are going to suddenly elevate their level of play at this point in their careers. The Hornets could look to cap-starved teams like Chicago, Atlanta, or Sacramento to get rid of Batum, but they’d have to probably add on young assets to entice the team getting him.
The Hornets’ bad contracts really put them in a troublesome position. A potential move would be to trade Walker for a budding young player or a pick to try to build around as the bad contracts expire. The problem here is that no young player is guaranteed to become as good as Kemba is now, thus making this a risky move for Charlotte. Blowing up the roster would give the Hornets hope for the future but would be a risky endeavor.
Option 2: Compete Now
There are other teams looking to blow things up, and Charlotte could always try to poach a star to pair with Kemba. A new season will bring new trade rumors. Maybe a Lebron-less Cleveland would give up Kevin Love, or a team like the Blazers would trade C.J. McCollum. In any case, this would help Charlotte contend, but if they have to part with the young Malik Monk, they’re leaving little room for a new star to emerge. Charlotte likely doesn’t have enough money for a megastar, and their roster would probably only improve to a low-mid playoff seed.
The positive to this strategy is that it keeps them competitive while hopefully allowing Malik Monk to come along, and it would incentivize fans to come to games. This route at least ends in a playoff appearance, something rebuilding does not guarantee for a long time. I really think that the new Hornets GM should take a hard look at just trying to contend while their bad contracts play out.
What option do you think the Charlotte Hornets should take? Give me a shout @PerSourcesSam! Thanks for reading!