On Thursday, we put together a roundup of the latest NBA trade rumours. Turns out, it came a day early.
On Friday morning, one of the biggest trade bombs landed, when ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (of course) reported that the Charlotte Hornets are open to trading star point guard — and their only great player — Kemba Walker.
At 18-25, the Hornets have underachieved this season and, apart from Walker, have a roster that features a weird mix of overpaid players thrust into bigger roles than they probably deserve (Cody Zeller, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist), aging okay-to-decent rotation players (Marvin Williams, Jeremy Lamb), underachieving prospects (Malik Monk, Dwayne Bacon) and a handful of pros who don’t fit into any future plans (Dwight Howard, Michael Carter-Williams, Nic Batum).
In other words: Hitting the “Reset” button makes sense, and Walker is just about their only hope of flipping a current player for a collection of assets that will help any potential rebuilding effort.
If he’s on the block, there will be no shortage of teams bidding for his services — the Magic, Pistons, Knicks, Jazz, Cavaliers and Nuggets are all teams that, for various reasons, could use an upgrade at the point. But which deal would make sense for both sides?
Here are our favourite hypothetical Kemba Walker trade, plus some more viable trade ideas as we head toward the NBA’s Feb. 8 deadline.
THE TRADE
New York Knicks get: Kemba Walker, Cody Zeller
Charlotte Hornets get: Frank Ntilikina, Willy Hernangomez, Joakim Noah, 2018 first-round pick
Why it makes sense: The Knicks fan base — or front office — isn’t exactly the most patient around, so it’s hard to see them waiting the three or four seasons it could take for Ntilikina, the eighth-overall pick of the 2017 draft, to develop into a bona fide starter. Especially if Ntilikina being dealt can land an all-star talent like Walker, who has stepped up in big moments at Madison Square Garden before and gives the Knicks the stellar point guard they’ve been coveting for what seems like decades.
For the Hornets, however, a young promising piece like Ntilikina would be a nice asset in their rebuild, while the 23-year-old Hernangomez has impressed in moments but, for reasons that are unclear, has been almost entirely out of the Knicks rotation this season.
Charlotte would want to shed some of their burdensome contracts in a potential Walker deal, thus including the under-achieving Zeller (three years remaining at roughly $14 million per). To balance out the salaries, the Knicks would have to throw in Noah, who has a frightening three years and $55 million left on his deal). The contract isn’t a big issue on a team hitting reset with no aims of competing in that span (until a couple years down the road perhaps, when he can be dealt as an expiring deal), and the Knicks would have to include their 2018 first-rounder to make adding Noah worthwhile for the Hornets.
While the top-end of the 2018 draft is as loaded as any, there is a fairly steep drop off after the first seven or so picks, and the Knicks — particularly with Walker running the point — are unlikely to be picking in the top 10.
Obviously, the move will help the Hornets’ chances of climbing closer to the top of the draft lottery as well.
THE TRADE
Milwaukee Bucks get: Evan Fournier, Marreese Speights
Orlando Magic get: Malcolm Brogdon, Tony Snell, Joe Johnson, future first-round pick (from Utah)
Utah Jazz get: Jabari Parker
Why it makes sense: At 23-21 and currently barely holding down the seventh seed in the East, the Bucks are underachieving— at least for a team featuring one of the top five talents in basketball.
While Brogdon, the reigning rookie of the year, is a solid asset, the addition of Eric Bledsoe at the point earlier this season has moved him to the bench, where he’s become the Bucks’ de facto sixth man.
Fournier, just 25, would add a much-needed scoring boost off the pine — a threat to drop 20 any given night — and a noticeable improvement from beyond the arc, where he’s hit 2.2 threes per game this season at just shy of 40 per cent shooting (compared to 37 per cent and 1.3 makes per game from Brogdon). The Bucks are currently 27th in three-point shooting.
Shedding Fournier’s salary ($17 million per over the next three seasons) would make sense given the Magic are looking to reboot around Aaron Gordon, and new GM Jeff Weltman is reportedly looking to rid some of the players he inherited from the previous regime. Brogdon gives the Magic a promising young piece under a far more appetizing contract.
The Bucks failed to reach terms on an extension for Parker, and it doesn’t seem like they’re altogether sold that he’ll be able to return from injury.
For Utah, who are five games out of a playoff spot and rebuilding on the fly around stud rookie Donnovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, Parker is a calculated risk — a huge boon if he can be a contributing secondary scorer, and fairly low-risk to find out if all you’re giving up is a future first and Johnson’s $10-million expiring contract.
THE TRADE
Cleveland Cavaliers get: Nerlens Noel
Dallas Mavericks get: Cleveland’s 2018 first-round pick, Iman Shumpert
Why it makes sense: They’ve been said to be looking to add size and, yes, the Cavs are almost certainly eyeing a bigger, bolder move than this one. But unless they’re willing to part with Brooklyn’s first-rounder — an unnecessary risk given LeBron James’ future in Cleveland remains uncertain — they just don’t have much in the way of assets to trade.
This isn’t a move that will put the Cavs over the edge and right the ship entirely, but at least makes sense on the court and gives them a chess piece to utilize in the right matchup.
Noel isn’t going to move the Earth, but he does give the Cavs a much-needed shot-blocking rim protecter and good finisher at the other end of the floor, which should at least help to cure some of Cleveland’s defensive woes. The 23-year-old former sixth-overall pick has almost completely fallen out of Rick Carlisle’s rotation in Dallas — a healthy scratch often this season, playing 12 minutes per game when he does suit up — and the Mavs would be wise to get something for him before he hits the free-agent market this summer.
Eating Shumpert’s contract ($10 million next season) isn’t a big deal for Dallas, who are rebuilding around Dennis Smith Jr., Harrison Barnes and future draft picks, and might make the Cavs feel better about throwing a late first-round draft pick their way.
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