Welcome to Buzz City Beat, a daily roundup of the latest and greatest news and stories from around the web about the Charlotte Hornets.
Game One of the NBA Finals is less than a week away as it is set to begin on June 1st. With the long break in between games, fans can hardly wait for the much-anticipated rematch. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at the Charlotte Hornets‘ free agency plans, a potential Michael Kidd-Gilchrist–Wilson Chandler trade and is Lauri Markkanen the next Frank Kaminsky?
Hornets’ free agency plans (us.blastingnews.com)
"The most expected move that the Hornets could make is to do nothing because they simply can’t. But if Jordan has any clutch genes left in him from his playing days, it wouldn’t shock me if he pulled the trigger on a franchise-changing move this summer."
While Charlotte will surely be in for a quiet free agency period this summer, I don’t think that they will do nothing. The team may have limited cap space but they can still make some noise by signing a couple of key players. While a huge splash move for a superstar isn’t likely, they do have a mid-level exception that could be used to get someone like Darren Collison which would be huge.
Rich Cho will be on the hunt for bargains during free agency as the Hornets don’t have a lot of money to spend. He’s shown success in signing players to team-friendly deals in the past like with Jeremy Lin. Charlotte’s GM will have to do so once again this year as the team has a few needs but limited resources to fill those spots. Still, I expect a lot more than nothing to happen for them.
MKG trade for Wilson Chandler? (DenverStiffs.com)
"First, from a Hornets perspective, this deal makes infinite sense. Charlotte needs to find a quick fix to their issues this offseason. Neither their offense nor their defense was better than average, and their ability to adjust to other teams was called into question many a time."
We have discussed this trade idea in the past and it still looks like a win-win deal. Even though Chandler is about seven years older than MKG, Wilson seems to be a better fit with the Hornets’ current roster and style of play. Kidd-Gilchrist’s lack of offensive production has been a detriment to the team and a two-way wing like Chandler would be a great addition to help space the floor and defend effectively.
If Charlotte could get Wilson straight up for Michael, I think that they should seriously consider it. Obviously, it will be tough to give up on MKG so early in his career but how much longer can they afford to hang onto him before his trade value completely diminishes? He has shown little signs of improvement in his shooting form and efficiency.
Is Markkanen the next Frank Kaminsky? (BleacherReport.com)
"A more realistic aspiration for Markkanen would be a ‘more versatile Ryan Anderson‘ or a ‘better version of the [Charlotte] Hornets’ Frank Kaminsky’—not Dirk 2.0.”"
Next: Hornets need to trade either Lamb or Belinelli
Being only 20-years old, Lauri surely has more upside than Kaminsky did when he entered the league. Markkanen may be a slight upgrade over Frank but with their similar skill set, it makes no sense for Charlotte to draft the Arizona product. Even though he probably won’t fall to them, if he does, the Hornets should pass.