Charlotte Hornets fans are still waiting on whether the team will make a move before the trade deadline. Unfortunately, the front office might have missed the chance to get rid of the veterans who need new homes because of injuries.
Cody Martin is currently dealing with a sports hernia, which, historically, has been tricky to manage. Meanwhile, Vasilije Micic sustained an ankle injury in his last outing for the Hornets, and it looks like they won't be able to showcase him to possible suitors in the coming days.
Perhaps the only way the organization can get involved in trades before the Feb. 6 deadline is by acting as a facilitator. However, other squads might be more equipped financially and assets-wise to serve in that role in multiteam trades.
Hornets' protected pick this summer changed hands again in recent mega-trade
Interestingly, though, a Charlotte-owned asset was featured in the latest blockbuster move that saw De'Aaron Fox transfer to the San Antonio Spurs and Zach LaVine to the Sacramento Kings. Some might remember that the Hornets owe San Antonio a lottery-protected first-round selection in this year's draft. The Spurs have just sent that to Sacramento.
The chances of that conveying are incredibly low, as Buzz City's trajectory for the remainder of the season doesn't look promising. As such, the Kings will most likely get two second-round picks from Charlotte in 2026 and 2027 instead. Fortunately for them, they still received two other first-rounders in the trade.
If you're wondering why San Antonio owns the Hornets' protected pick this summer, that's actually a result of a high-risk, high-reward maneuver in 2021. That offseason saw them acquire the New York Knicks' No. 19 pick in exchange for heavily protected selections in each of the following four years. That 2021 pick turned out to be Kai Jones.
The Knicks then used the asset in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks in the middle of the 2021-22 campaign before the Hawks sent it to the Spurs months later in the ill-fated Dejounte Murray deal.
Hopefully, that would be the last time the Hornets try to make such a dicey decision.
Imagine if they got stuck in the middle of the Eastern Conference pack this season, making the playoffs only to be first-round fodder, and then lose a valuable draft pick in June. The ideal route for Charlotte now is to acquire as much draft capital as possible and build around the core nucleus of LaMelo Ball, Mark Williams, Brandon Miller, and whoever it brings in the 2025 draft.