Grading Hornets trade deadline targets from no-brainer to brain-dead

Nassir Little - Forward, Phoenix Suns (Brainless)

This isn’t so much a knock on Little, as a player. He’s a perfectly fine role player, and a respectable big defensive wing who has limited offensive ability. He’s still fairly young too and doesn’t make a lot of money.

The reason this would be a brainless move for the Hornets is because it would mean the team has decided to trade Miles Bridges to the Suns. The Suns don’t have a single first-round pick to trade and the best player they can headline a deal with is Little. 

They can throw in a few second-round picks, but this is just a very low-value deal for Bridges, who has been playing the best basketball of his life recently. If the Hornets can’t get a better deal than Little and second-round picks they have no choice but to hold onto Miles.

They will retain his Bird Rights and be able to sign him to a long-term deal this offseason. That would be a far better outcome than dumping him for this pathetic offer from the Suns. Bridges’ value would almost certainly go up in the offseason as well.

The Hornets could work a sign-and-trade deal with Miles that would allow more teams to get involved in the bidding, and they could almost certainly get back at least one first-round pick in any deal. 

Bridges is only 25, and would likely continue to hold value playing for the Hornets. Selling now for Little and second-round picks would be a disastrous decision for the franchise and a complete mismanagement of assets that they cannot afford.