How This Trade Impacts Charlotte Hornets
On the surface, this trade makes some sense for the Charlotte Hornets. They have many versatile, young big men who could use a mentor to help them develop their skills and teach them the ropes of the NBA.
Al Horford could provide that to players such as P.J. Washington, JT Thor, Vernon Carey, and Kai Jones. As a floor-stretching, inside-out big man himself, Horford has much knowledge to share with youngsters. But, that is not enough for the Hornets to make a trade like this.
There is a reason that the Hornets pinpointed Mason Plumlee as a trade target on draft night, and Kelly Oubre Jr. was signed during free agency. I’d be willing to bet a lot that that reason wasn’t to trade them a few weeks into their tenure with the team for Horford.
Plumlee is the starting center for the Hornets right now, while Oubre will play an integral role for the team off the bench on the wing. Trading away those two and any other players to help match salary wouldn’t make sense for them.
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Horford is 35-years old and isn’t worth anywhere near the $27 million he will make this season. He is a solid player, but certainly not worth that price tag and what it will cost to acquire him.
Trading away two rotation players for him just to mentor the younger guys would be bad for business for Michael Jordan and the Hornets.
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It would be shocking to see Charlotte take part in a deal like this and trade away their two biggest acquisitions this offseason. Would Boston have a similar feeling? Let’s take a look at this deal from their perspective.
