Charlotte Hornets: Michael Jordan Has No Choice But To Start Over From Scratch
The Charlotte Hornets reportedly had Kemba Walker on the trade block last season. However, according to ESPN, Michael Jordan wanted an All-Star in return. Has anything changed heading into the offseason? The Hornets already dealt Dwight Howard to the Brooking Nets this summer and now Jordan must decide if the Hornets are in complete rebuild mode or not.
Moving Walker is the Hornets only way of rebuilding fast. Sure, maybe the Portland Trail Blazers or Toronto Raptors can deal either C.J. McCollum or Kyle Lowry, but why should Charlotte want either with their hefty contracts? Walker still has one year left on his current contract at $12 million per season. The best move Jordan has here is to trade Kemba Walker for draft picks.
The Hornets have made the playoffs only twice while Walker has been in uniform. Obviously, something isn’t working here. By packaging Walker and possibly Nicolas Batum, it will give the Charlotte Hornets the opportunity to acquire a player and a possible lottery pick. This is how you get your team out of the abyss it’s in and build toward a brighter future.
Take a quick glance at their roster and you could see that production may not have been the issue but cohesiveness.
Walker led the team in scoring with 22.1 points but what’s funny about that is– he’s the sixth-highest paid player on the team. What does that say about the Hornets when their star is paid less than second-tier players like Batum, Marvin Williams, Howard, Cody Zeller, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. There is something terribly wrong in Charlotte. But Jordan and his staff can change all that.
Will the process be complete overnight? No, but it will lay the foundation to better years. Walker should be the first to go. While he’s underpaid now, next season he will command a max deal and with what the Hornets are already paying out to players not close to Walker’s level, it’s not a good combination.
It may take some time to rebuild, but look at where the 76ers are from believing in their process. Jordan has to realize that you may have to take a step back in order to move forward in business.
[BXReporter]
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
