The Charlotte Hornets weren’t able to pull off a trade deadline deal and that speaks volumes of the team’s current direction.
Now that the excitement of the NBA’s trade deadline has come and gone, everyone can closely look at each team’s moves and in the case of the Charlotte Hornets, the lack thereof. While the team didn’t make any bad deals or panic trades, they also didn’t get any better. With no moves made at the deadline, Rich Cho and the front office have shown their direction.
With the Hornets’ current position, in terms of both the standings and their salary cap situation, most expected them to either try to get better and win this season or move pieces to tank and create some flexibility. They didn’t do either. After acquiring Courtney Lee at last year’s deadline, in a move that turned around their season, many fans were disappointed to see the front office do nothing.
It’s not like Charlotte didn’t try to get anyone. They completed a deal for Miles Plumlee but the jury is still out on that move. Rich Cho and Michael Jordan were also involved in a few rumors/reports just before the trade deadline. The team was rumored to be linked to Bojan Bogdanovic of the Brooklyn Nets but the Washington Wizards ended up securing him via trade.
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Lou Williams of the Los Angeles Lakers was also a target that the Hornets were “aggressively pursuing” but the Houston Rockets completed the deal for him before Charlotte could.
By not making any moves at the deadline, the Hornets have chosen to ride this season out with their current roster. That doesn’t mean they are tanking but it also means that they aren’t going all out to reach their original goal to make it to the second round of the playoffs. In reality, the front office is hoping that their current roster figures things out and can at the very least make a run for the postseason.
If that doesn’t happen, which seems likely based on their struggles this season, then Charlotte looks like they are perfectly fine with tanking to get a better draft pick. The main problem with either outcome is that the Hornets still don’t have any cap space flexibility heading into free agency this summer.
To be honest, the Hornets were in a tough spot. They don’t have a lot of young prospects or expiring contracts that are enticing/valuable to opposing teams but rather veterans on bad deals. Those are always going to be tough to move especially because Charlotte’s not willing to part with their future first round picks (rightfully so). Even with no bad deals being made, the team’s future is in question.
They are tied down to a number of bad contracts for years to come and with no flexibility, it will be tough to build unless they hit in the draft which hasn’t been the case for them in recent seasons. As it stands, it looks like the team’s direction is to tank this season. Or they are at least complacent with whatever happens with this group of players whether that be squeaking into the playoffs or continuing on their current path and getting a better draft pick.
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At least the Charlotte Hornets didn’t panic and make a terrible trade. That would’ve been worse than standing pat. Although the team’s current direction isn’t very bright, they can turn that around by somehow overcoming their struggles and getting back to the success they had last season. That isn’t out of the question as they still have a lot of the players that helped them win 48 games.