The 2018 30-team NBA mega-trade that solves nothing and makes everyone mad
By Ian Levy
Charlotte Hornets
Sending out: Marvin Williams (ORL), Nic Batum (CLE)
Bringing in: Meyers Leonard (POR), Nik Stauskas (BRK), Nikola Vucevic (ORL), Kosta Koufos (SAC)
This deal does nothing for the Charlotte Hornets in terms of their fight for a playoff berth this year. In fact, it probably pushes them even deeper in the lottery (which is not necessarily a bad thing). The Hornets are acquiring a wing who is of little use to them and three centers when they already have Cody Zeller, Frank Kaminsky and Dwight Howard on the roster. At first glance, it looks like a cluster.
However, what it does do is clear some significant cap space for the future Hornets by sending out Williams and Batum. Assuming all player options are picked up over the life of every contract here and the Hornets don’t keep Stauskas, the deal clears just over $2 million from Charlotte’s cap sheet for the 2018-19 season, nearly $30 million for the 2019-20 season and just over $27 million for the 2020-21 season. That’s a lot of cabbage that could be used wisely in other ways.
This scenario also allows Charlotte to hold onto Kemba Walker, improve their draft situation for this season and try to rebuild on the fly. Also, some of those centers still hold value and could theoretically be flipped for other assets this summer or next season.