Another night, and another Charlotte Hornets loss is in the books. The Hornets were no match for the Sacramento Kings in their 123-98 loss Wednesday night. This was the third consecutive loss for Charlotte and their 14th in their last 15 games. With the Hornets having just two wins since the beginning of December, a compelling case can be made for the team to start trading away anyone of value who is not part of their competitive future.
It is not just the fact that the Hornets are a non-competitive team with no end in sight. It is the lack of sellers currently that could make trading their few notable veterans more enticing, a point that was recently made by Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley in Trade Panic Meter: How Badly Every NBA Team Needs a Deadline Deal. Buckley would give the Hornts a nine on a scale of 1-10 on how badly they need a trade. Unlike some of the teams appearing on the list who have competitive aspirations and hope to compete in the postseason, this is more about the Hornets being one of the worst teams in the league and needing to unload unnecessary vets.
"A limited trade market offers the opportunity to potentially turn their veteran players into bigger returns than anyone would've thought possible."Zach Buckley on the Hornets
It is just about impossible to argue with this line of thinking. Charlotte needs to find a way to make the most out of their bad situation, and with the trade market being the way it is, they are in the driver's seat to possibly reset their franchise to get back on the right track sooner rather than later. Charlotte must start heavily marketing players such as Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward, and Miles Bridges ahead of the upcoming NBA trade deadline if they have not already. Keeping these three players on the roster beyond the deadline with the current lack of sellers would be team-building malpractice, but also would not be all that surprising, considering the organization's continued compounding of poor decisions.
The Hornets really have two choices. They can make the right decision and cash in any of their trade chips for something they can help in their roster rebuild, or they can continue making wrong decisions by not properly evaluating their team's competitive level and end up having to buy out someone who could net them something via trade for absolutely no reason. Whether or not they make the right choice is truly a mystery, considering the amount of consecutive missteps this organization has taken as of late.