How the Hornets can learn from the mistakes of the past
By Quinn Everts
1. Be Willing To Make The “Big” Move
Mitch Kupchak and Michael Jordan must be willing to part with every single asset–draft picks and current players alike– in order to pair a second All-Star level player with Lamelo. Simple as that.
And if the idea of Charlotte placing the entire roster plus all future draft picks on the trading block sounds scary, that’s because it is scary. The “big” move doesn’t always work out and swinging for the fences can leave teams gutted. That said, the entire point of accumulating assets is to build up a trove so that your franchise has the option to cash them in for a superstar.
Of course, basketball isn’t always strictly a business. Fans develop connections to individuals on the team, and shipping out productive, well-liked players is always somewhat emotional. But a refusal to make the “big” move is part of what spiraled the Hornets into obscurity for the greater part of the 2010s, and they cannot afford the same fate while a player of LaMelo’s ilk sits on the roster.
The most recent star player to hit the trading block was Donovan Mitchell, who just got dealt to Cleveland for a haul of draft picks and young players. Not acquiring Mitchell certainly isn’t the end of the world, especially because it was clear from various reporting that Charlotte was at least attempting, in some form, to acquire the three-time All-Star. That, at the very least, is a comforting precedent that the Hornets are setting, showing they are potentially willing to make the big swing.
In the current age of NBA player empowerment, stars will become available; the Hornets must be prepared to risk it all, because slow, safe, team building in a small market like Charlotte will lead the franchise to the same dead end from years ago.