Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets starting to turn things around, Blockbuster trade idea
Buzz City Beat is Swarm and Sting’s one stop for the latest news and stories from around the web about the Charlotte Hornets.
Malik Monk was spotted at the Charlotte Hornets‘ practice facility spending time with associate head coach Stephen Silas. (Twitter/ @PeteGuelli) In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at how the team is starting to turn things around, a blockbuster trade idea with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Greensboro Swarm topping the Wisconsin Herd.
Charlotte’s starting to turn their season around (Twitter/ @Kroeger)
"#Hornets now 6-3 in last 9 games, 4 GB of final playoff spot in East. Charlotte ranks 11th in offense (109.0) and 7th in defense (104.1) in that stretch."
The Hornets 6-3 record in their last nine games is their best nine-game stretch of the season. With their next four games at home against beatable teams, there’s a good chance that they could extend their two-game win streak to a season-high six games. The question is, can the team keep this level of play up going forward?
Charlotte’s first step is to get back to .500 for the first time since November 5th when they were 5-5. Although they still have quite a bit of ground to make-up, the Hornets have the easiest schedule in the NBA for the remainder of the season which should be a big help. If they decide to add more scoring or shooting before the trade deadline, that should also help their second-half push towards the playoffs.
Blockbuster trade idea (BleacherReport.com)
"Charlotte Hornets Receive: C Channing Frye, SF/PF Cedi Osman, SG/SF Iman Shumpert, SG JR Smith, 2018 first-round pick (via Brooklyn Nets), 2020 second-round pick (via Miami Heat)Cleveland Cavaliers Receive: SG/SF Nicolas Batum, PG/SG Michael Carter-Williams, PG Kemba Walker"
Unless Kemba Walker demanded a trade or told the Hornets’ front office that he wouldn’t re-sign after his contract end after next season, then there is no reason as to why Charlotte should accept this trade. While it does launch a full rebuild and gets Nicolas Batum’s contract off of their books, it doesn’t give the Queen City team a lot of positives.
Although they get a first-round pick, Charlotte must take on the contracts of Shumpert and Smith with the latter of the two making around $15 million through the 2019-20 season. This trade would vastly improve the Cavs’ roster but doesn’t offer much incentive for the Hornets to accept. Still, moving Nic’s contract is pretty enticing but not at the cost of dealing Kemba.
Greensboro Swarm snaps six-game losing streak (Gleague.NBA.com)
"The Wisconsin Herd, the NBA G League affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks, fell to the Greensboro Swarm in a 122-109 loss in the teams’ third and final meeting of the 2017-18 regular season. The Swarm claimed the series, 2-1."
Next: Rumor: Hornets unlikely to trade Kemba
Charlotte’s G-League affiliate picked up their first win of 2018 as they took down the Wisconsin Herd with the help of 22 points from Sam Thompson. Even without one of their two-way players in Mangok Mathiang who was called up to the Hornets, Greensboro was able to win as they had six players score in double-figures. Despite the victory, the Swarm still sit in last place in the Eastern Conference.