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Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets perfect draft pick, Orlando Magic hire Steve Clifford

By Jerry Stephens

DETROIT, MI - MARCH 18: Michigan State Spartans guard Miles Bridges (22) gives instructions to his teammates during the NCAA Division I Men's Championship Second Round basketball game between the Syracuse Orange and the Michigan State Spartans on March 18, 2018 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Syracuse defeated Michigan State 55-53. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - MARCH 18: Michigan State Spartans guard Miles Bridges (22) gives instructions to his teammates during the NCAA Division I Men's Championship Second Round basketball game between the Syracuse Orange and the Michigan State Spartans on March 18, 2018 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Syracuse defeated Michigan State 55-53. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Buzz City Beat is Swarm and Sting’s one stop for the latest news and stories from around the web about the Charlotte Hornets.

May 30th is Jeremy Lamb‘s birthday and the guard has turned 26 years old. (Twitter/ @NBA) In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at Woj projecting the Charlotte Hornets‘ first-round pick, Steve Clifford being hired by the Orlando Magic and a trade idea involving Kemba Walker being sent to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Woj projects Miles Bridges to Charlotte (247Sports.com)

"“They need to go safe here,” Woj said. “They’ve got to get some young talent in this organization. They have not drafted well under the previous regime. I think Bridges, from a winning program like Michigan State, that’s always appealed to Michael Jordan, the owner there and you look at Kupchak’s history in LA, to me, Bridges makes perfect sense for them.”"

During ESPN’s mock draft, Adrian Wojnarowski and Mike Schmitz predicted all 30 first-round picks in the 2018 NBA Draft. Woj projected that the Hornets would select Miles Bridges at No. 11 despite Michael Porter Jr. still being available. Adrian and Mike had MPJ falling all the way out of the lottery and to the Washington Wizards at 15th overall.

I don’t know if I agree with Woj that Charlotte should go safe with their pick but he also thinks that the Michigan State forward “makes perfect sense” for the Hornets. If both Miles Bridges and Michael Porter Jr. are both still on the board when the Queen City team is on the clock, it will be interesting to see who they choose.

Orlando Magic hire Steve Clifford (Twitter/ @WojESPN)

"Steve Clifford has agreed to a four-year contract to become the new head coach of the Orlando Magic, league sources tell ESPN. Magic will hold a news conference today to introduce Clifford, who led Charlotte to two playoff appearances."

Coach Clifford will be re-joining his former team. He coached in Orlando as an assistant from 2007-12. He will now be the head coach of the Magic as he signed a long-term deal with them. Steve wanted to get right back into coaching after being fired by Charlotte at the end of the 2017-18 season.

Clifford will not look to turn things around in Orlando and lead the Magic to their first playoff appearance since 2012. He’s got a few pieces to build around in Aaron Gordon (restricted free agent), Evan Fournier, Nikola Vucevic and Jonathon Simmons. Steve will also be reunited with Bismack Biyombo who he coached for two seasons with the Hornets.

Kemba Walker-Lakers trade idea (TheBigLead.com)

"Lonzo Ball + Luol Deng + 2019 #1 pick to CharlotteKemba Walker + Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to LAThe Hornets are another attendance-challenged team (26th at home) that could be jumped-started by the flashy Ball. In a year or two, a Ball/Malik Monk backcourt could be something."

If the Hornets are set on dealing Kemba, this wouldn’t be the worst return. Getting a promising guard like Lonzo Ball and a future first-round pick could set Charlotte up nicely going forward. This trade would also allow them to get MKG’s contract off of their books. Although, they would be forced to take on Deng’s massive deal.

Next: Draft history of the 55th overall pick

Luol is set to make $18 million in 2018-19 and $18.8 million in 2019-20. That’s quite the pill to swallow if you’re the Hornets. Still, maybe you could buy out his contract or use the stretch provision to spread his cap hit over multiple seasons. It may not be the best possible deal but it is an interesting one and one that would give Charlotte plenty of attention.

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