Buzz City Beat: Kemba Walker cements his place, Could Isaiah Thomas land with the Charlotte Hornets?

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

Here’s a look at every NBA team’s franchise leading scorer. (The-BarnBurner.com) In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at Kemba Walker securing his spot in history, Isaiah Thomas potentially signing with Charlotte Hornets this summer and looking ahead to see where the team goes from here.

Kemba secures his place in Hornets’ history (FanRagSports.com)

"Wallace is the leader in Win Shares and VORP, but Walker is not that far behind in either. Barring injury or trade, he should be the franchise’s all-time leader in both of those by next season anyway. That means he’s the greatest player in franchise history, albeit a franchise with very limited history."

Kemba Walker has inserted himself into the conversation of the Greatest Charlotte Hornets’ player of all-time after passing Dell Curry‘s franchise scoring record. He now rivals greats like Larry Johnson, Alonzo Mourning, Glen Rice, Baron Davis and Gerald Wallace. The only thing that Kemba is missing is postseason success but that blame shouldn’t solely be placed on him considering how bad the teams around him have been.

Everyone will have their opinion on who the greatest player in team history is but one thing that is for certain is Walker’s spot in the history books. He’s cemented himself as a great in the Queen City. Plus, his career isn’t even over yet and he will only continue to add to his records and resume. If he remains with Charlotte, there’s no doubt in my mind that he will go down as the greatest Hornets’ player ever.

Could Isaiah Thomas land with Charlotte? (BleacherReport.com)

"It also helps that the Hornets are hopelessly addicted to winning in the present. They have spent wildly on a veteran-laden roster and will look virtually the same next year. Thomas, perhaps coming aboard on the mid-level, would fit right in."

While Michael Carter-Williams was arguably one of the worst backup point guards in the league this season, I don’t think that Isaiah is that much of an upgrade. Thomas is one of, if not, the worst defensive players in the NBA today. He’s undersized, can’t play alongside Kemba and will be coming off of his second hip surgery in the past year. Still, he could be a buy-low option for Charlotte.

It would be a low-risk, high-reward move for the Hornets to see if IT can have a bounce-back season with them like Jeremy Lin did a few years ago. Just last season, Isaiah was an MVP candidate and averaging 28.9 points per game. I don’t think Thomas would be my first option to backup Walker but if he is healthy, he could be the effective playmaker and scorer off of the bench that Charlotte’s looking for.

Where does the team go from here? (iSportsWeb.com)

"I don’t see the team making any major strides next season, but hopefully, they improve. It is hard to be optimistic about anything when Charlotte is one of the worst free agent destinations for any players on the market this summer. With a lack of money, winning, and star players, the Charlotte Hornets don’t have many places to go but up."

Considering Charlotte’s cap situation and lack of valuable assets, I think their short-term goal for this upcoming season is to find a direction. The new general manager needs to decide quickly if this team is going to compete for a playoff spot or if they are going to rebuild. Once that decision is made, the Hornets can go forward with either bringing in quality role players or trading Kemba Walker and anyone else with value for future assets.

Next: Ranking the Hornets last eight first-round picks

It’s going to be hard for Charlotte to get significantly better this summer but I don’t think that they necessarily need to. With a new backup point guard and a two-way wing, they could be right back into the conversation of competing for a postseason appearance. It’s also imperative that they hit with their first-round pick. This franchise can’t afford another miss in the draft.