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CHARLOTTE HORNETS: state of the franchise

State of the Franchise

Projected Cap Space (before luxury tax): $12.1 million

Background: Well, Charlotte. After being the laughingstock of the NBA for quite a few years, the ex-Bobcats had supposedly turned things around. Michael Jordan’s team re-named themselves the Hornets, and brought in gifted SG Lance Stephenson on a seemingly very reasonable 3 year/$27 million deal, with a team option on the third year. Stephenson was added to a talented core that included PG Kemba Walker and C Al Jefferson, both on fairly reasonable contracts. Charlotte was fresh off a season in which they boasted the sixth best defense in the league, as well as a 43-39 record, good for seventh best in the East. However, this season has not worked out quite as planned. Their elite defense fell to the middle of the pack, and constant injuries as well as Stephenson’s disappointing performance have led Charlotte to be on the outside-looking-in on the playoffs, even in the weaker Eastern Conference. Now, the Hornets are shopping Stephenson, and who knows what route they will choose from here. Charlotte is sort of an odd case because they do have talent plus some financial flexibility as well as all of their draft picks, but nothing seems to be working for them right now. Only time will tell if this current roster can figure things out, or else Michael Jordan will have a tough decision on his hands.

Current Financial State: The Hornets’ finances aren’t too bad, but they could certainly be a lot better. Star C Al Jefferson has a reasonable $13.5 million player option next year, which he will likely accept. Role players SG/SF Gerald Henderson and SF/PF Marvin Williams will be owed a combined $13 million next year, which speaks towards some pretty poor decisions in the past. PG Kemba Walker’s 4 year/$48 million extension will kick in next year, which is perhaps a little pricey but nothing too disastrous. What has been disastrous, however, is newcomer Stephenson, as discussed above. The Hornets are aggressively trying to find a new home for the SG, but nothing has materialized thus far. However, the only contract guaranteed to be on the books at this moment for the 2016 season is Walker’s $12 million, which leads to the possibility that maybe Charlotte will try to go all-in for the loaded free agent class in 2016.

Targets: There were some rumblings about a three-team trade between Charlotte, Brooklyn, and Oklahoma City in which Stephenson would be sent to the Nets in his hometown, and C Brook Lopez would be shipped from Brooklyn to Oklahoma City. These talks ultimately ended when Nets GM Billy King deemed the trades to be not good enough for his team. But here’s one that he cannot refuse: Brooklyn sends Lopez to the Thunder and Kevin Garnett’s large expiring contract to Charlotte. In turn, Charlotte would ship Lance to Brooklyn and Jason Maxiell to Oklahoma City. Finally, the Thunder would send the expiring contracts of Kendrick Perkins and Nick Collison to Brooklyn, as well as young SG Jeremy Lamb to the Hornets. For the Thunder, this is exactly what they wanted. Parting ways with role players Perkins and Collison and replacing them with stud Brook Lopez in the frontcourt is a no-brainer, and the acquisition of Dion Waiters instantly makes Jeremy Lamb expendable. For Brooklyn and Billy King, this is one hard deal to turn down. Shedding Garnett and Lopez’s salaries is the biggest plus from this deal, and Collison and Perkins will come off the books this summer. Granted, Stephenson is a big question mark, but there is a lot of reward to go with his risk. Last but not least, the Hornets get a nice deal out of this one, too. Moving Lance already points to this being a good trade, but replacing him with intriguing young prospect Jeremy Lamb would be a fantastic move for Michael Jordan and his franchise. Garnett really does not have a role in the long-term view of the franchise, but his contract will come off the books next year, so that’s not an issue.

The Fit: Replacing Lance Stephenson at the two-guard, Lamb may have some big shoes to fill. While Lance did not mesh well with franchise PG Kemba Walker, Lamb has a chance to really shine alongside his former UConn teammate. Despite being a slight disappointment in his first couple seasons in the NBA, Lamb has shown flashes of talent when given the opportunity. When superstars Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant were injured for the first 15 games of the season, Lamb averaged 12.4 points in 26.3 minutes. Nothing that jumps off the page, until you consider that he was knocking down his threes at a ridiculous 44% clip. This would bring some much needed perimeter scoring to a team that lacks it, as well as reuniting a couple of college champions. This move makes plenty of sense for Charlotte as well as Oklahoma City; it is all up to Brooklyn and Billy King to pull the trigger for Lance Stephenson.
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