Fansided

Hornets need to blow it up, starting with trading Kemba Walker

By Cody Williams

CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 10: Kemba Walker #15 of the Charlotte Hornets handles the ball against the Phoenix Suns on March 10, 2018 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Brock Williams-Smith/NBAE via Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 10: Kemba Walker #15 of the Charlotte Hornets handles the ball against the Phoenix Suns on March 10, 2018 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Brock Williams-Smith/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Charlotte Hornets are stuck in NBA purgatory and their only way out could be to begin a rebuild with a Kemba Walker trade.

The Charlotte Hornets are mired in the exact position that no NBA franchise wants to be stuck in. Consistently over recent years, they have been either narrowly missed the playoffs to earn a pick in the late lottery or finding themselves as a low playoff seed destined to be ousted quickly in the postseason.

In their last five seasons (one still as the Bobcats, the last four as the Hornets), Charlotte has not won fewer than 33 games in a season. That’s an achievement considering that, in the 2011-12 campaign, they posted a historically awful 7-59 record in the lockout-shortened season. However, their high win total of this recent run has been 48, which came in the 2015-16 season. That earned them just the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference and a first round series loss to the Miami Heat, albeit in seven games.

At the forefront of the Hornets at this time is point guard Kemba Walker. The franchise’s first-round pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, Walker has undoubtedly established himself as the leader in Charlotte. Over his past three seasons, Walker’s numbers have been undeniably impressive, averaging 22 points, 5.4 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals per contest. More importantly perhaps, he’s improved his outside shooting, hitting on 38.6 percent of his 3-point attempts. Comparatively, Walker shot just 31.8 percent from long range in his first four seasons.

The now more efficient Walker is entering the final year of his contract and will be an unrestricted free agent following the 2018-19 season. And for a team that is plagued by a plethora of bad contracts, Walker truly isn’t one of them, as he’s slated to make just $12 million this year, per Spotrac.

Which is why the Hornets should look to trade him.

Particularly after Wednesday’s Dwight Howard trade, Charlotte is tied down financially in a bad way for at least the next two seasons. Nicolas Batum will make $24 million this season, $25.5 million in 2019-20 and then has a $27.1 million player option in 2020-21. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is due $13 million this year with an equal player option for the next season. Marvin Williams will make $14 million in 2018-19 with a $15 million player option the next year. And the newly acquired Timofey Mozgov is due $16 million this season and $16.7 million the next.

Those figures go without mentioning Cody Zeller as well, who is locked up through the 2020-21 season as well for around $14 million per year. What you can take away from that is that the Hornets don’t have much flexibility with those deals. Because though those players are being paid heftily, their value doesn’t quite match up in terms of what they provide the team. Thus, it’s going to be hard to trade them without dumping assets as well.

Simply put, the Hornets aren’t in a position where they can afford to mortgage assets to dump salary. Charlotte is not a coveted free agency destination, so even if they found a trade partner, doing so still doesn’t completely behoove them. Instead, they are a team that should be looking to reset as best they can, which is where Walker comes into play.

On a relatively modest expiring contract, the 28-year old point guard is the one asset that the Hornets have that they could get return for. He’s a player with enough value in terms of production and his deal that the organization could get something of quality to help build for the future in return.

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As currently constructed and with Walker as their de-facto go-to player, the Hornets have an extremely defined ceiling. That window of 33-48 wins seems like their destiny no matter if things break right or go south in a given their window if the status quo is maintained. General manager Mitch Kupchak and owner Michael Jordan have to realize this at some point.

While Walker has been a beacon for the Hornets during this run in purgatory for Charlotte, his biggest value to the team right now is as a trade chip. He is the one piece they have that it would make sense to trade with the future of the organization in mind. Yes, it would signal the start of a potentially strenuous rebuild. But when you’re a team stuck in cyclical mediocrity, sometimes that’s the best course of action.

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