The Charlotte Hornets arguably made the worst trade of the year when Rich Cho made a panic move for Miles Plumlee mid-season.
There were 18 completed trades in the NBA during the 2016-17 season but none were worse than the Charlotte Hornets‘ move for Miles Plumlee. The team chose to throw caution to the wind when they acquired the backup big man. It was a high-risk, low-reward move and Steve Clifford’s side almost got no reward from the trade.
On February 2nd, the Hornets’ coaching staff and front office decided to give up on Spencer Hawes and Roy Hibbert. They traded away the two veteran centers to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Plumlee. Even though Hawes and Hibbert were both struggling, the panic trade for Miles didn’t make the team much better and it has also risked their financial future.
If Charlotte wouldn’t have made the move, they could have let Hibbert walk this offseason and would’ve owed Hawes only $6 million next year instead of having Plumlee on the books for $12.5 million over the next three seasons. Instead, the Hornets have no cap space this summer and they are stuck with an underperforming center who is making the fifth most on the team next season.
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There were other questionable trades throughout the league this season but none more head scratching than that for Plumlee. The Brooklyn Nets got a first round pick for Bogdan Bogdanovic, the Sacramento Kings received young players and a first round pick for DeMarcus Cousins and even the Bucks got a second round pick for Hibbert when they traded him. Charlotte didn’t even garner a pick or any young players in exchange for taking on Miles’ thought to be untradeable contract.
Since joining the team, 28-year old only average 2.4 points per game and 3.2 rebounds per game in his 13 outings with the Hornets. Although, he did manage to shoot 58.3% from the field and 75% from the free throw line. Plumlee’s biggest problem was staying healthy and not being available made his half-season with Charlotte all the more exasperating.
The simple fact is that the team panicked and they were hoping that Miles would help them turn things around in the second half of the season. That didn’t happen. Plumlee wasn’t on the court very often and when he was, he was out of shape and unproductive.
The Hornets made two trades on the year with the other one being a salary move with the Cleveland Cavaliers for Chris Anderson. That one had little impact and didn’t move the needle. The problem with the Plumlee deal was that it moved the needle in the wrong direction for Charlotte.
Sure the Chicago Bulls gave up some valuable pieces in their trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder but even they didn’t take on a horrible contract like the Hornets did.
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Things can change going forward. After a full summer with the Hornets, Plumlee might be able to turn things around next season. He will need to do a lot in order to prove himself worthy of the massive contract Charlotte is set to pay him.