Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets’ New Hope for Melo Deal, Swarm a Hit in First Season
Welcome to Buzz City Beat, a daily roundup of the latest and greatest news and stories from around the web about the Charlotte Hornets.
The Cavs defeated Pacers to go up 2-0 in their first-round series while the Spurs also went up 2-0 with a 96-82 win over the Grizzlies. There are three playoff games for today’s schedule with Raptors vs Bucks, Celtics vs Bulls and Clippers vs Jazz. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at a possible new hope for the Charlotte Hornets in their pursuit of a trade for Carmelo Anthony, the Greensboro Swarm being a hit in their first season and Johnny O’Bryant to release a digital comic series.
Hornets’ New Hope for Carmelo Anthony Trade? (OldNorthBanter.com)
"Anthony seems more available than ever these days with Phil Jackson basically admitting that the roster would have to proceed without Carmelo if the triangle is to be saved. That is the closest the Knicks have ever come to putting Carmelo on the trading block."
It looks like Melo’s time in NYC will finally end this summer. He will likely be traded but what’s the market for a 32-year old making $24+ million over the next two years? Do they Hornets even want an aging star like Anthony? And if so, how much would they realistically be willing to give up for him? My guess is not a lot. His value has never been lower and the Knicks now hold almost no power with Jackson basically saying that he is done with the team.
If Charlotte can get him on the cheap end, then maybe it’s worth the risk. They could use a big time scorer to pair with Kemba Walker and Carmelo can still score 20+ a game. With the new developments, the Hornets have new hope for an Anthony deal. We will have to wait and see what happens this offseason but Rich Cho should at least be making that call to Phil.
Greensboro Swarm a Hit in Inaugural Season (Greensboro.com)
"The Swarm sold out seven of 24 home games, including three standing-room-only crowds. Playing in a 2,118-seat venue at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex, the team averaged crowds of 1,768. That means the Swarm sold 83.5 percent of its tickets, with prices ranging from $10 to $86 per seat."
Even though the Swarm only went 19-31 during their first season, they were a pretty big draw in Greensboro. Their struggles on the court did not carry over to their attendance numbers as fans continually showed up in big numbers. The hype of the new D-League team likely played a part in that but their customer service was also a major key.
Hopefully, this success continues for them going forward. The team and the product on the court will likely get better next season now that they have completed their inaugural year. The home support helped the Swarm as they won 13 of their 19 games in Greensboro.
Johnny O’Bryant to Release Comic Series (BleedingCool.com)
"starting this July he will be releasing the first issue (digitally) of Monthly Hype: the Urban Otaku magazine under his digital comic book label Noir Caesar. What’s Monthly Hype all about? Well, it’s basically akin to Shonen Jump or 2000 A.D. but the comics within lean more towards a manga style of art and include a multi-ethnic cast."
Next: Hornets Decline Team Option on Christian Wood
This sounds like a pretty cool project for JOB. You don’t hear about many NBA players starting their own comic series. O’Bryant will be focused on not only basketball this summer but also on his digital comic series. Best of luck to him in both ventures.