Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets trade idea with the Cavs, Dwight Howard is back
Welcome to Buzz City Beat, a daily roundup of the best articles from around the internet surrounding the Charlotte Hornets.
The team’s fifth jerseys were leaked by NBA 2K as we got a sneak peek at “The City” uniforms. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we consider a possible trade between the Charlotte Hornets and the Cleveland Cavaliers while also looking at Dwight Howard being back and Michael Jordan being named the world’s highest-paid athlete ever.
Hornets’ potential trade with Cleveland (CavsNation.com)
"The Cavs send Iman Shumpert, Cleveland’s 2018 first round draft pick to Charlotte for Michael Kidd-Gilchrist."
The only way I could see Charlotte making this deal would be if they are out of the playoff race close to the trade deadline. They would also have to make the decision that MKG isn’t part of their long-term plans going forward. Although Shumpert isn’t much of an upgrade for the Hornets, that first round pick could be valuable for the future even if it is late in the first round.
Iman has an $11 million player option for next season which could be a problem as Charlotte would probably like an expiring deal if they were going to rebuild. If the Hornets decide to have a mid-season fire sale, MKG would most likely be among the players that they would shop. Maybe they would be able to get more than Shumpert and a first round pick but it isn’t a bad return considering that Kidd-Gilchrist hasn’t developed much of an outside shot.
Dwight Howard is back (16WinsaRing.com)
"This season it’s clear that when Howard is used right, and given the minutes, he has a big impact on a team. It also goes a long way to know he’s healthy. Howard ranks fourth in total rebounds behind only Andre Drummond, DeAndre Jordan, and DeMarcus Cousins. Those are all top big men in the league, and it’s time Howard is kept in that conversation."
Howard has arguably been Charlotte’s second best player behind only Kemba Walker. He ranks second on the team in scoring, first in rebounding and first in blocks. He is averaging a double-double while shooting over 55% from the field. The eight-time all-star hasn’t put up the numbers he has with the Hornets since the 2013-14 season when he was 28-years old.
Dwight already has 11 games of 20+ points so far this season which matches the total that he has last year with the Atlanta Hawks. Even at 32, the big man looks better than he has in the last three seasons. It’s worth noting that Howard said he lost around 20 pounds this summer to get in better shape.
Michael Jordan named world’s highest-paid athlete ever (NBA.com)
"Now the current owner of the Charlotte Hornets, Jordan has another accolade to add to his career as he was recently named the world’s highest-paid athlete of all time by Forbes."
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MJ’s $1.85 billion earning comes in just ahead of Tiger Woods ($1.7 billion) who was second on the top-25 richest athletes list. Michael made $94 million while playing in the NBA and has made a lot more with multiple endorsement deals, owning the Hornets and most notably with his Air Jordan line. The second-highest NBA player on the list is Kobe Bryant who was seventh with $800 million.