Charlotte Hornets: 5 ideas for a Terry Rozier trade

The Hornets ship Terry Rozier to Golden State to pair with Steph Curry.

According to Kevin O’Connor, the Warriors are shopping Kelly Oubre Jr at the trade deadline. Oubre is having a decent season in Golden State, averaging 15 points per game and playing high-level on-ball defense. This is in spite of a few circumstances not being in his favor such as the lack of play-calls for him and his playing style not being suited to the Warriors.

Terry Rozier is an intriguing one for the Warriors. He could offer a good stopgap for Klay Thompson next season as Thompson gets his rhythm back, and the shotmaking he provides would not only help space the floor for Andrew Wiggins and Eric Paschall but also add another layer to a Warriors’ offense that has been disgustingly linear this season.

The Sacramento Kings being involved as the third team makes sense. They desperately lack wings who can play defense, but they also don’t have as much a need for offense from their small forward due to De’Aaron Fox’s sheer scoring and playmaking prowess. This also gives them a chance to get some compensation back for Marvin Bagley.

Bagley is a switchable big man who rolls very hard to the rim, has a rare combination of size, aggression, fluidity, and skill. He’d combine extremely well with LaMelo Ball, Devonte’ Graham, and Malik Monk, pressuring opposing defenses to send multiple defenders to help at the rim, which in turn creates more open shots for his teammates.

On the defensive end, Bagley’s mobility, and understanding of positioning and angles lends itself to being a great fit with the existing Hornets’ personnel. The Hornets could easily sustain Bagley at the center position in a way the Kings couldn’t.

Bagley lags behind in some of the finer details of NBA basketball on both ends. For example, despite his mobility, he’s not very good at switching onto smaller guards. An optimized Bagley could be the dream big man the Hornets have been searching for.