The Charlotte Hornets have been one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference for the past two seasons, but they’re looking to improve.
This iteration of the Hornets has never made it past the first round of the playoffs. The last time they did was pre-Bobcats era when a Jamal Mashburn-led Charlotte squad made it to Round 2 in 2002.
However, they’ve tried their best to improve, making some solid trades along the way in hopes of getting better. And while not all of the trades have worked out in their favor, the Hornets have also won some deals.
Here are five trades where the Hornets absolutely fleeced their trade partner.
5 Trades where the Charlotte Hornets fleeced their trade partner
1. Thunder trade Jeremy Lamb to Hornets
This may not jump off the page as an electric blockbuster deal, but that’s because it’s not. Jeremy Lamb was nothing more than a solid role player, but he enjoyed the best years of his career in Charlotte.
In 2015, the Thunder traded Lamb to the Hornets in exchange for Luke Ridnour and a second-round pick that turned into Petr Cornelie.
Neither of those two players ever suited up for the Thunder. Meanwhile, Lamb played in Charlotte for four seasons, and in the 2018-29 season, he averaged 15.3 points per game—a career-high.
Again, this isn’t the type of deal that’s going to send shockwaves through the NBA. In the end, Lamb didn’t do too much in Charlotte, he just played solid basketball.
But the Hornets effectively traded nothing for something, and that’s a massive win, especially considering how little value Oklahoma City got out of it.
2. Hornets trade Gordon Hayward to Thunder
The most recent of the bunch, this is the deal that most people think of when they think about trades the Charlotte Hornets won, as it’s very fresh in their minds.
At the 2024 trade deadline, the Hornets moved Gordon Hayward to the Oklahoma City Thunder. In exchange, they received Davis Bertans, Vasilije Micić, Tre Mann, and two second-round picks.
When the deal was made, it seemed like pretty low value for Hayward as a theoretical player, but it made sense considering his injury history and general inability to stay on the court.
However, Hayward’s time in Oklahoma City didn’t work out. The Thunder got eliminated in the second round of the playoffs, he didn’t play much, and everyone from Sam Presti to Hayward’s wife seemed displeased with the situation.
Meanwhile, the Hornets didn’t get too much in return, but the guys they got back ended up playing pretty well for them down the stretch of the season.
Micic and Mann ended up being rotation staples, with the latter of the two earning consistent starts in Charlotte. Even Bertans played pretty well, finding his three-point shot a bit.
If even one of the three players earns rotation minutes next year or nets a second-rounder back in a deal, the Hornets will have completely ripped off the Thunder.
3. Got Stephen Jackson from Warriors for Raja Bell
Going way back in time for this one, the Charlotte Hornets technically didn’t make this trade: The Charlotte Bobcats did. In 2009, the then-Bobcats traded Raja Bell and Vladimir Radmanovic to the Golden State Warriors for Stephen Jackson and Acie Law.
According to Marc Stein, who was then writing for ESPN, the deal was made in spite of Jackson’s wishes. He had become disgruntled in Golden State and wanted to go to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Instead, the Warriors sent him to Charlotte.
Bell only ever played one game for the Warriors, and while Radmanovic played some solid minutes for Golden State, it was nothing compared to Jackson’s impact in Charlotte.
Jackson was only a Bobcat for a short period of time, but during his stint with the team, he played some of the best minutes of his career. He finished 12th in MVP voting the year he was traded to the Hornets at the deadline.
He helped the Hornets cap off a playoff push in his first season there, and while he wasn’t able to bring them back to the postseason the following year, Charlotte got some value out of him the following summer.
They traded him in a three-team that saw them land Corey Magette and Bismack Biyombo, who both played real minutes for Charlotte.
4. Hornets trade up to select Emeka Okafor
Calling any deal that landed Emeka Okafor a “fleece” seems a bit weird, but he was a genuinely impactful player for the Charlotte Bobcats for a long time, and they had to trade up to select him.
At the time, the Bobcats were in the midst of being added to the NBA, and they had the fourth pick in the draft. Meanwhile, the LA Clippers owned the second overall pick.
So, the Bobcats made a move. They send the fourth pick and a second-rounder to the Clippers while also agreeing not to select Predrag Drobnjak in the expansion draft in exchange for the second pick.
With that pick, they added Okafor, who was a staple of Charlotte’s rotation for the better part of a decade. He took home the Rookie of the Year award in his first year and 11th in Defensive Player of the Year voting in his third season.
Okafor was a double-double machine early on in his career, and Shaun Livingston, who the Clippers ended up picking with the fourth selection, dealt with injuries in the first few years of his career.
Livingston probably would have carved out a solid role in Charlotte, but considering his injuries, Okafor’s success, and the fact that Drobnjak only played one season with the Clippers, this deal was a win for the then-Bobcats.
5. Hornets trade Devonte’ Graham for first that turned into Mark Williams
Devonte’ Graham was a very fun find for the Charlotte Hornets. After an effectively non-existent rookie season with Kemba Walker ahead of him, he exploded in his sophomore year, turning into a legitimate rotation player.
However, there were always some efficiency issues, and it was tough to tell whether or not his success would translate on a winning roster. So, when the New Orleans Pelicans wanted him in free agency, the Hornets completed a sign-and-trade.
It ended up being a three-team deal that also included the Memphis Grizzlies. Graham and Jonas Valanciunas, the Grizzlies got Steven Adams, Eric Bledsoe, and others, and the Hornets got a lottery-protected first-round pick in 2022.
Luckily for Charlotte, the Pelicans ended up making the playoffs but in one of the final spots, so the selection landed at 15th, meaning the Hornets received the pick.
And when it came time for them to make their pick, they managed to snag Duke center Mark Williams. While Williams has dealt with injuries early on in his career, he looks like he could be the center of the future for the Hornets.
If the Hornets managed to flip Graham, who could have simply left in free agency, for their center of the future next to LaMelo Ball, that’s a huge win and a major fleece, especially considering Graham didn’t stick in New Orleans.