Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets’ stories to watch, Making a move for Clarkson
Buzz City Beat is Swarm and Sting’s one stop for the latest and greatest news and stories from around the web about the Charlotte Hornets.
Julyan Stone should be signing for the Queen City team soon as Shams Charania reported the news. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at the Charlotte Hornets‘ stories to watch this year, potentially making a trade deadline move for Jordan Clarkson and where Nicolas Batum ranks among NBA shooting guards.
Hornets’ stories to watch this season (iSportsWeb.com)
"Here are the three storylines worth your time: Kemba Walker‘s leadership, The resurgence of Nic Batum and The reunion of Dwight Howard and Steve Clifford."
Kemba is Charlotte’s leader both on and off the court. He continues to improve his game while also becoming more of a vocal figure among his teammates. He is the unquestioned leader. As for Nicolas Batum, he needs a bounce back year after a down season. He regressed a bit and considering what the Hornets are paying him, they need his production to go up.
The biggest question mark for the team is Dwight Howard. Although he is no longer in his prime, will he be able to produce near an all-star level or will he regress? The reunion with Steve Clifford should only help his game. Looking at his last few stops, he’s had some chemistry issues. It will be interesting to see how things go in the Queen City for Superman.
Making a move for Clarkson at the trade deadline? (BleacherReport.com)
"A three-team swap with the Charlotte Hornets and Brooklyn Nets could make that happen without routing any long-term money to Hollywood."
The season hasn’t even started and we are already looking ahead to the trade deadline. The three-team trade would send Jordan Clarkson to Charlotte with Jeremy Lamb, Johnny O’Bryant and a 2018 second round pick to Brooklyn while LA would receive Trevor Booker and Treveon Graham. This deal would only happen if Michael Carter-Williams doesn’t work out for the Hornets.
Charlotte would be giving up a lot but Clarkson would be the perfect backup point guard. With Dwayne Bacon‘s emergence in the summer league, it makes Lamb expendable while O’Bryant and Graham are fringe players for the Hornets.
Where does Batum rank among NBA shooting guards? (HoopsHype.com)
"Starting at shooting guard with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist at small forward is a slightly odd position for Batum, who has played the entirety of his career at small forward before last season."
Next: Does CHA have to win a playoff series this year?
HoopsHype ranks Nic as the 15th best shooting guard in the NBA heading into the 2017-18 season. That’s ahead of Dwyane Wade, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Lou Williams. Still, paying the 15th best player at his position over $20 million a year isn’t a good sign for Charlotte.