Buzz City Beat is Swarm and Sting’s one stop for the latest news and stories from around the web about the Charlotte Hornets.
The Greensboro Swarm snapped their three-game losing streak with a 106-99 win over the Canton Charge as Roscoe Smith scored 26 points. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at the Charlotte Hornets‘ worst trades since 2004, Dwight Howard setting an NBA record and the Phoenix Suns not being interested in Kemba Walker.
Charlotte’s worst trades since 2004 (CharlotteObserver.com)
"Gana Diop (from Dallas) for Matt Carroll and Ryan Hollins. He made all of 11 starts in five seasons in Charlotte. A half-dozen times, Diop told me he could be a great player if he ever got in great shape. It never happened."
DeSagana Diop was a horrible NBA player. He was drafted eighth overall in 2001 and only averaged 2.0 PPG and 3.7 RPG throughout his career which somehow lasted 12 years. He only put up 1.6 PPG and 3.0 RPG during his five seasons with the Hornets. The second-worst trade was the deal for Miles Plumlee last season.
Rick Bonnell listed the Dwight Howard trade that was made this past summer as the best trade Charlotte has made since basketball returned to the Queen City. The top-four best trades all happened in the last three years. After so many bad trades back in the Bobcats’ days, the Hornets and Rich Cho have been more successful as of late.
Dwight Howard sets NBA record (Twitter/ @TommyBeer)
"Dwight Howard has at least 15 rebounds, 10 points and 2 blocks in an NBA-record eight straight games. He’s averaging 17.3 points, 15.9 rebounds and 4.0 blocks over that eight-game stretch."
Dwight is playing some of the best basketball of his career recently. His revitalization with the Hornets has been pretty outstanding this season. Not only is he averaging his best numbers since his last all-star season (2013-14) but Howard is setting both Charlotte franchise records and NBA records.
The eight-time all-star is a walking double-double and has returned to being a defensive anchor/reliable shot blocker. Say what you will about his turnovers and poor shot selection at times but he has been working hard this season and has been the Hornets’ second best player. If he was on a team with a winning record, there would be a strong case for him being an all-star.
Suns not interested in Kemba (AZcentral.com)
"Because of the depth at point guard, in particular, McDonough indicated it’s less likely Phoenix will make a move for a veteran point guard before the Feb. 8 deadline. Charlotte’s Kemba Walker has been mentioned as a possibility, but he’s 27 and his contract expires after the 2018-19 season."
Next: Two Nic Batum trades that may be crazy enough to work
Phoenix’s general manager made it clear that they are not looking for short-term answers but that they will be aggressive in free agency. That kind of puts them out of the running for Kemba Walker. They have the picks and cap space to land the all-star point guard but with this latest development, they seem like a very unlikely landing spot. Even more so now considering that Michael Jordan pretty much took Kemba off of the trade market.