Some players really showed a lot of promise for the up-and-coming Charlotte Hornets. Sure, the 2022-23 season was lackluster overall. But there were players that distinguished themselves as potential contributors to a building franchise. There were other players, though, that had bad seasons. Seasons that were so disappointing, that they ruined their trade value for a team obviously looking to add future assets or cap flexibility.
These are their stories.
Gordon Hayward
Hayward’s season was a positive one in some respects. He finally broke the 50-game mark for games played in a season in a Charlotte Hornets uniform. He’ll head into the offseason healthy for the first time since joining the franchise.
Unfortunately, that is about all the good news Hayward got this last season. He shot poorly from deep. His 32.4% from beyond the arc was the lowest in his career since 2013-14 (2017-18 not included because of his injury in the first game of the season). His 14.5 points per game were his lowest since he signed with Charlotte. And in an odd way, his health and subsequent poor on-court production were what made him untradeable in a season the team understood they were in rebuilding mode.
Before this season, Hayward would have flashes of incredibly efficient, quality play. He was as close to a metronome as one would find on a basketball court. His only, glaring, downfall was that he couldn’t stay healthy. Now, with a reasonably healthy year under his belt, he performs poorly. That made him as untradeable as the inability to stay on the court did previously. The one saving grace for his trade prospects is that he is entering the final year of his deal. If he balls out early next season, the Hornets will be motivated to find him a destination and a team attempting to win the title might be willing to gamble on him.
Cody Martin
At the end of the 2021-22 year, Cody Martin was coming off his best season in the NBA. His 38.4% shooting from behind the arc showed a real glimpse into why Martin had been re-signed by the Charlotte Hornets that previous off-season to a four-year $32 million deal. The 6’5 wingman not only had career-highs in points (7.7), rebounds (2.9), and assists (2.5), but he had his career-high scoring (21 points).
The scoring and offensive spike was important because his ability to defend has never been in question. Despite his role as a reserve player, the five best 5-man lineups in terms of point differential featured Martin. His ability to defend much larger players gave the Hornets lots of flexibility with who could play around him.
This season Martin played in only seven games due to injury. Martin was on his way to being considered a “3 &D” player. Someone capable of shooting the ball well and giving stars around them spacing, as well as defending multiple positions and allowing the team to switch on that side of the court.
Martin, on an extremely team-friendly deal, could have garnered value as a trade asset for a team that was obviously building for the future. He was a second-round pick in the 2019 draft. He represents the franchise’s ability to find obscure talent and cultivate it, a good barometer for the health of any NBA franchise. And fans saw another former second-round, 3 & D player garner attention and value as a trade asset—one who now plays on a title-contending team.
With a healthy 2023-24 season (and plenty of years left on his relatively inexpensive contract), Martin could provide value in the trade market, particularly if the Hornets are overwhelmed with wing depth.
Terry Rozier
How could a guy who is coming off a career-high in points per game and was the team’s leading scorer have tanked his trade value? One word, “efficiency”. Rozier’s efficiency plummeted this season. The 6’1 guard shot 32.7% from the three-point line—the lowest since his second season in the league. Combine that with the high volume of shots he took from deep (eight a game), and his effective field goal percentage plummeted. It was the lowest of his career since he became a full-time starter (48.4%).
It’s certainly not all Rozier’s fault. He was often tasked with guarding the opposition’s best perimeter player. And not playing alongside a great setup man like LaMelo Ball for most of the season certainly hurt Rozier. He was asked to create offense, not only for himself but for teammates that had sometimes not seen much NBA action at all—let alone shared the court with him before. And while his 5.1 assists per game were the most in his career, it was obvious that wasn’t the best use of considerable skills.
It’s precisely because he struggled without talent around him that likely sunk his trade value. On a team that could possibly win the NBA title (the sort of squad that would be willing to take on Rozier and his remaining $70+ million on his contract), he would be a reserve player—someone to run the offense while most of the starters sat. Or if he was traded to a team rebuilding and looking for a veteran presence (and needing to balance the money on a potential trade) he would be surrounded by novice hoopers. In either case, he showed this season that he would struggle.
Rozier was put with an impossible task. But it was the way that he responded that likely means that he will be with the Hornets for quite some time moving forward.