Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets want to engage NYK in potential Kemba Walker trade, Midseason power rankings
Buzz City Beat is Swarm and Sting’s one stop for the latest news and stories from around the web about the Charlotte Hornets.
Kemba Walker, Nicolas Batum, Dwight Howard, Marvin Williams and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist are all on the trade block for the Queen City team is looking to shed some of their larger contracts. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at the Charlotte Hornets wanting to engage the New York Knicks in trade talks, where the team sits in the midseason power rankings and the Greensboro Swarm’s loss to Raptors 905.
Charlotte wants to engage Knicks in potential Kemba deal (ESPN.com)
"The Charlotte Hornets would like engage the Knicks on trade discussions involving All-Star point guard Kemba Walker but New York and Charlotte haven’t yet had substantive discussions about a trade involving Walker, per league sources."
New York always seemed like a reasonable landing spot for Walker who is a Bronx-native. Even if the Knicks have interest in Kemba, the rumor also states that they would likely be unwilling to meet the Hornets’ high demands which would include taking on one of Charlotte’s larger contracts. Still, a first-round pick, Frank Ntilikina and a salary filler could be enticing for the Hornets.
Rumors are already swirling around potential trades involving Walker. The Detroit Pistons are reportedly interested while Charlotte has supposedly contacted the Dallas Mavericks about facilitating a trade. Although none of these stories seem serious yet, the NBA’s February 8th trade deadline is quickly approaching which means the rumors will continue to ramp up.
Midseason NBA power rankings (USAtoday.com)
"20. Charlotte Hornets – Malik Monk, who the Hornets drafted with the No. 11 overall pick in June, hasn’t seen the court nearly as much as the majority of his fellow lottery picks, playing 31 total minutes in six games this month — a trend coach Steve Clifford attributes to depth."
Even though Charlotte only went 1-2 in the past week, they managed to move up one spot in the power rankings from No. 21 to No. 20. As for Malik Monk not receiving regular rotation minutes, that is a trend that will likely continue until the end of the season unless someone is traded or injured. This will probably be a learning year for the rookie.
The Golden State Warriors remain at the top of the rankings while the Boston Celtics (2), the Toronto Raptors (3), the Houston Rockets (4) and the Minnesota Timberwolves (5) round out the top-five. The Hornets moved into the top-20 for the first time since Week 2. With the easiest remaining schedule of any NBA team, there’s a good chance that they will continue to climb in the rankings.
Swarm fall to Raptors 905 (Gleague.NBA.com)
"In front of its third sold out crowd of the season, the Greensboro Swarm suffered a 99-92 setback Friday night to the visiting Raptors 905 at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. The defeat moves the Swarm to 9-19 on the season."
Next: How will Hornets' players respond to trade rumors?
Greensboro has now lost seven of their last eight games and sits at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Only the Salt Lake City Stars have a worse record than the Swarm this season. Cat Barber was the only player with a good game as he scored a team-high 19 points to go along with eight rebounds and seven assists. Maybe Malik Monk or Dwayne Bacon can get some playing time in the G-League over the next few weeks.