Charlotte Hornets: 2 trades to acquire Myles Turner

Charlotte Hornets: 2 trades to acquire Myles Turner

There are two major deals that the Hornets could do in order to acquire Turner – and I personally do not know which the Pacers would rather have happen.

This one – which would send Gordon Hayward to the Pacers – is interesting for several reasons. The first – though – is that Gordon Hayward has a trade kicker that the Hornets would have to pay out if he were to be traded. Whether he would be willing to waive that kicker for an Indiana trade isn’t known (or if he would even be able to do that) – but he has expressed a desire to play for the Pacers in the past – and went to college at Butler (located in Indianapolis).

The Hornets would essentially be moving a top-3 player on their roster for Myles Turner – a long term building block, while also freeing up around $12 million in salary cap space for the 2022 offseason – one which they will have to hand out a hefty extension to Miles Bridges.

In addition to Turner, though, the Hornets would be adding Jeremy Lamb – a solid rotational wing player in the final year of a 3-year contract originally signed with the Pacers. Lamb played with the Hornets a while back – with his biggest highlight being a half-court shot buzzer-beater against the soon-to-be NBA champion Toronto Raptors.

Lamb would fill in a little of what the Hornets would be missing with Hayward – although presumably, Kelly Oubre would be elevated to the starting lineup – Ball/Rozier/Oubre/Bridges/Turner.

That’s a great starting five, and the Hornets would still be able to boast a bench lineup of Smith/Bouknight/Martin/Lamb/Washington/Plumlee.