The dialogue of making a blockbuster trade is getting too loud around the Hornets and I get it, I myself have given Lee and Jeff grief because I felt that being a playoff team was extremely attainable with how weak the East is. But the desire for a blockbuster trade right now is less about basketball logic and more about emotional exhaustion. It’s the impulse response to years of losing, injuries, false promises and that impulse is understandable. But it’s also how franchises quietly sabotage themselves. When a team that hasn’t stabilized its identity, health, or defensive backbone starts chasing max-salary players, it’s usually not because the move fits best, it’s because patience has worn thin.
The NBA graveyard of poverty is full of teams that confused big names for progress, prioritized the wrong things for solutions, and paid for it with a years and seasons of mediocrity. Charlotte’s biggest danger right now isn’t patience and investing in youth, it’s moving too fast in the wrong direction, when they can simply just stay the course for this season.
The allure of a blockbuster trade for a star like Towns or Davis is understandable. Who wouldn’t want instant star power? But basketball isn’t about instant gratification. It’s about fit, flexibility, and a sustainable timeline.
Right now, Charlotte’s most valuable assets are young, cheap, and growing together. Messing with that for a max-money question mark is a gamble you only make if you’re one piece away from a Finals run. The Hornets are not there, but they could get there organically and cheaper with the right development.
Build the foundation first. Then invest in a star, which will probably be the eventual Miles upgrade at the 4. To me that’s how modern contenders are made.
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To me length, mobility, defensive versatility, floor spacing and cheap cap hits are THE modern NBA currency. The players that most embody that profile and are somewhat attainable for a reasonable price are:
Yanic Konan
A young, long wing with major upside and athletic tools that fit any rim-running, switch-everything defense. Think elite role player with potential to BOOM into an All Star on a contending team: catch, space, switch, run the floor — the exact archetype Charlotte needs around LaMelo and Kon.
Kel’el Ware
A high-upside big man with crazy length, a lob threat for LaMelo, and rim protection who fits an up-tempo, switch-defensive system perfectly. He’s still young with room to grow without eating cap space. Plus it’d be very nice to do to Miami what they did to Charlotte in the past by taking Ware like they took Zo. If it only costs giving them their ‘27 pick back and matching salary It becomes a must, in my opinion.
Tristan Vukcevic
Size and moments of rim protection but not a max-star profile. He’s exactly the kind of affordable, mobile big that can stretch, switch, and anchor pick-and-roll coverage without costing the world.
The most important thing to me is that all these players work WITH Moussa as they do different things and compliment each others pros and cons.
Stay the course, we still lack a defensive backbone— KAT, Sabonis, Zubac, and an injury prone Anthony Davis don’t fix that. Look at Jaren Jackson’s playoff performances and tell me that’s a player you want on 50 million. Stay the course and keep making the smart moves. Trust the process.
15 comments
I agree wholeheartedly. We absolutely should NOT be trying to trade for any of these max players teams are trying to dump for cap/team comp reasons. They’re available for a reason. Even if we have to suck booty hole for the rest of the season, no reason to blow up what we’ve been cookin since new ownership took over.
People have to understand that the progress our rookie class has made ABSOLUTELY puts us in position to trade for a legitimate star right now AND depending on what you give up in the process it, once again, ABSOLUTELY is a move worth making.
With Towns the Knicks are going to want one of our young core but on the opposite side we can get them to take some useless contracts in Josh Green/Tre Mann as filler because as long as we dont give up more than three 1sts then we would be making out with the win there.
Good writeup and totally agree. I would love to see ware in the team in all honesty.
These guys are all bad to terrible players
I’m gonna continue to hold these gentlemen to their word:
***”We’re super competitive, and we have expectations, but we also understand that we need to be patient to create something great here. We’re not skipping steps to make that happen. Sometimes you want to get to the answer before you get through the whole test. We’re not doing that.”***
[- Rick Schnall](https://www.nba.com/hornets/news/one-year-later-schnall-plotkin-and-hornets-ready-for-tipoff)
***”You guys are going to get sick of me saying this, but we are going to turn this into the premier franchise in the NBA. And there was no hesitation in terms of how we were going to do it. It may take a process, we’re not going to skip steps.”***
[- Jeff Peterson](https://www.si.com/nba/hornets/onsi/news/everything-jeff-peterson-said-at-his-introductory-press-conference)
Are we getting them for free or something?
Usually young guys get overvalued by their own teams.
I would really like Kel’el Ware on the team
Usually taking the risk to bet on shitty young players is a sign that you don’t trust in your FO and your current young core. Vukcevic and YKN are probably worse than PJ Hall, and Ware is probably worth more in a trade than some good options that could be instant starters.
We are on a good position to make a move to improve the team, probably not in the deadline, but in the offseason its a very good time to happen. There are enough targets from different salary ranges and that would require different amount of assets. Nobody wants to give 3+ unprotected hornets firsts for AD. We have firsts from other teams that we could: trade a shitty first for someone like Gafford, or some seconds for Sharpe, or 2-3 firsts for guys like Zubac/Allen/JJJ/Hartenstein, etc.
We can also play the FA game, trade 1 or 2 two-year deals for expirings and second-round picks now to keep collecting ammo. Start the offseason with ~40 mil in cap space and try to improve the team with short-term deals for guys that fit needs.
I wouldn’t mind any of these guys, as long as we aren’t giving up an arm or a leg
Couple weeks left until the trade deadline and the whole team is healthy. This is their audition for next year. If someone isn’t playing how Lee wants I bet they are shipped at the deadline. The rookies made others expendable.
As an IU grad, I’d love Ware. I wanted them to draft him so bad
I see you constantly giving long insightful defenses of the Hornets in /r/NBA all the time, you’re the man homie. Keep fighting the good fight, you’re the only one in that sub I’ve saved a seat for on this bandwagon lmao
Ohhh now this is the type of post I love to see on the sub. I wholeheartedly agree on staying the course. I don’t see the need in trading/gambling for a big name.
Does this make the Trae Young trade a mistake for the Wiz?
I wish everybody would stop pressuring them, and that includes some long, convincing for some people, effort that we have to make a trade. I hope we don’t and I think it would be a major mistake because we’re just seeing what they can do, the four Hornets and their helper bees. But really there’s many of their helper bees about to graduate into full-fledged Hornets also. I just wish people would stop putting pressure on the fan base to cheer on making a trade and regardless if that’s your intent or not, it’s what it feels like and I just wish people who are this big of a fan would understand that it’s just gonna take a little more time and with the players we have and of course, if they do make a trade, I’m gonna support whoever they trade for, but I think it would be a huge mistake. But guess what? I trust them and if they do make a trade, I’ll just have to get used to it and I probably would pretty fast.