5 Outside the box trades the Hornets should make to acquire dream targets
By Ben Handler
There’s no telling what the Bulls front office is doing, and they seem frustratingly content to be a fringe play-in team every year. But if they ever look in the mirror and decide to blow it up and trigger a rebuild, this would be a great start for them.
The Lonzo Ball situation is very sad, as he hasn’t played in over two full years now, and it seems his knee injuries may be career-ending. This would be a bail-out by Charlotte to allow the Bulls to get off of his contract.
Vucevic is another player that is overpaid and underperforming. He’s a solid player but they could get a similar impact at the center position from Nick Richards for a quarter of the price. The Hornets could take that deal off Chicago’s hands as well.
Those two moves would save them $41 million next season, and with Hayward’s deal expiring, it would give them a chance at a fresh start (DeMar DeRozan is also expiring), the Zach LaVine albatross notwithstanding.
Giving up Dosunmu - who has been playing more for the Bulls lately - would be a tough pill to swallow, but may ultimately prove a worthy price to pay in exchange for getting these contracts off their books.
For the Hornets, they get an exciting off-guard who could fit in nicely between Ball and Miller on a similar timeline. You can afford to take on the Vucevic deal, and he actually may do well in Charlotte, playing when Mark Williams is off the floor. His three-point shot has cratered in Chicago, but a semblance of a stretch-big in a Hornets uniform would be a welcome sight.
On top of that, you make LaMelo happy by bringing in his brother to rehab with the team. If he could ever recover, he’s a good player, but if not he’s still on an expiring contract next season, assuming he opts into his player option.