Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets’ top four players of all-time, Grading the MCW deal
Welcome to Buzz City Beat, a daily roundup of the latest and greatest news and stories from around the web about the Charlotte Hornets.
Free agency has come to a bit of a halt as the entire league waits for Gordon Hayward to choose a destination. Once he signs, the rest of the dominoes should fall. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at the Charlotte Hornets‘ top four players of all-time, how good the Michael Carter-Williams‘ deal was and Kemba Walker and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist at the Big3 event in the Queen City.
Hornets’ Mount Rushmore (BlecherReport.com)
"Alonzo Mourning, Larry Johnson, Muggsy Bogues, Dell Curry. Apologies to Glen Rice and Vlade Divac, two important figures who didn’t quite make it."
Even though the team doesn’t have the strongest history, they do have a strong top four players. Zo was one of Charlotte’s greatest players based on talent but he only played three seasons with the Hornets before declining a contract extension with them which eventually led to him being traded to Miami. LJ had a memorable five years in the Queen City and he deserves to be among the top four players in the franchise’s history.
Looking ahead, it is only a matter of time before Kemba Walker’s name will be listed as one of the Hornets’ best players and on their Mount Rushmore. If he continues his career with Charlotte, there is a good chance that he goes down as the greatest player in team history and their all-time leading scorer.
Grading the Michael Carter-Williams Deal (HoopsHabit.com)
"Based on the price and potential role, this was a great deal by the Hornets. If he plays well, Carter-Williams could parlay this into a multi-year deal. Grade: A"
I’ve said before that this is the perfect low-risk, high reward move for Charlotte. They are taking a calculated risk with MCW. If he plays well, they will look like geniuses and if he plays bad, then they won’t lose much because it was only a minor investment. Looking at the numbers some similar backup point guards got (Langston Galloway $7 million a year and Darren Collison with $10 million per season), this may end up being a steal.
Only time will tell if this move will pay off for both sides. For the time being though, this was a great deal for the Hornets. There is no situation in which this is a bad signing. It is only a one-year deal for less than $3 million for a player with some upside who is looking to rebrand himself.
Kemba and MKG attend Big3 event in Charlotte (SportingNews.com)
"In Week 2, LL Cool J, singer Anthony Hamilton, Hornets players Kemba Walker and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and former Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith were in attendance."
Next: MCW is the Hornets' latest reclamation project
Ice Cube’s Big3 league visited the Spectrum Center and two Charlotte Hornets’ players were in attendance for the event that features former NBA stars. They saw Al Harrington drop 20 points, Cuttino Mobley score 23 and Mike Bibby turn back the clock with 20 points for his team.