Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets 6MOY candidate, Nikola Mirotic trade scenario

Welcome to Buzz City Beat, a daily roundup of the best articles from around the internet surrounding the Charlotte Hornets.

Based on the circumstances surrounding their next game, the Charlotte Hornets should have the upper hand on the Dallas Mavericks. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at Jeremy Lamb potentially being a Sixth Man of the Year candidate, a trade idea for Nikola Mirotic and if Marvin Williams can play up to his contract.

Charlotte’s Sixth Man of the Year candidate (Twitter/ @KeithSmithNBA)

"He won’t win it, but Jeremy Lamb should get a little more pub for Sixth Man of the Year. He’s been really good for Charlotte so far. Another example of why you can’t give up on these kids too early. They come in at 19 and need an extra year or two to develop."

If not for Lou Williams, Lamb might be at the top or at least near the top of the list of Sixth Man of the Year candidates this season. Williams is averaging 21.9 PPG and has nine games of 30+ points off of the bench this season. He is far and away the front-runner for the award this year. Still, that doesn’t dimish what Jeremy has done for Charlotte this season and how well he’s played.

At the very least, Lamb should receive a couple votes for Sixth Man of the Year this season. The final part of the tweet speaks to Malik Monk‘s current situation. At only 19-years old, the rookie has plenty of time to grow and develop into a player who can make an impact at the NBA level in a year or two.

Hornets-Nikola Mirotic trade scenario (CBSsports.com)

"The dream trade scenario here for Charlotte would be to unload Nicolas Batum’s behemoth contract. A deal involving Robin Lopez for Batum straight up works, so add in Mirotic and maybe Jeremy Lamb for salary reasons. Charlotte now has a lot more flexibility for the future while Chicago can make a potential run at the playoffs with Batum."

I don’t see why Charlotte would want Nikola and how he would fit with the team unless they trade Frank Kaminsky because they are similar players. Although, if they packaged Kaminsky in a deal with Nic Batum in exchange for Lopez and Mirotic, that might prove to be a pretty good move for the Hornets.

The bottom line is that Charlotte needs offense and shooting. And those are two things that Mirotic can provide. This trade would likely signal the end of this Hornets’ team as it would mean giving up the season and starting a rebuild. Moving Nicolas’ contract and getting and freeing up cap space for the future would be an added positive for the Queen City team.

Chance of redemption for Marvin Williams? (GiveMeSport.com)

"All but one of his threes have been assisted, and he hasn’t the speed in his cuts to get open too easily or too often. Indeed, all but 20 of his makes of any kind of shot have been assisted. Williams is merely a finisher offensively, and not an especially athletic one, who does not stand out defensively and who rebounds far below average for his position."

Next: D12 ranks 10th in ASG voting among East front court players

Although Marvin has upped his game this season after a down year last year, he is still performing below his $13.5 million per year contract. This article suggests that a change of scenery could be enough for Williams to redeem himself and live up to the massive contract he signed just a couple years ago. The problem for Charlotte is that it will be hard to find a suitor for the aging power forward and it might not be in the Hornets’ best interest to move him because he is an important part of their team.