Four Non-Gordon Deals That Make Sense for Hornets


All of the speculation as of late has been on whether or not the Hornets should move Eric Gordon. While most agree that they should, at least eventually, the disagreement seems to be on when the best time to make the trade would be. It appears that teams aren’t willing to match the Hornets asking price for Gordon right now, and since Gordon does have veto power up until July 13th, Dell does not have maximum leverage. So barring some sort of miracle, it appears that Gordon will stay through the trade deadline.

What Dell Demps can do, however, is what he has always done- make small trades that look insignificant now but pay off big dividends down the road. Nobody thought the Craig Brackins and Songalia for Jason Smith and Willie Green trade would work out so well. Similarly, the Vasquez for Pondexter swap seemed like nothing but a trade of marginal backups at the time. How about Julian Wright for Marco Belinelli? Point is, Dell can make these little moves that result in good rotational players and that creates flexibility to go after bigger fish down the line. With that in mind, here are some moves that Dell Demps should explore that don’t involve Eric Gordon.

1. Roger Mason to Memphis for Toronto’s 2013 2nd rounder

Memphis is in need of a shooter desperately, and if they can’t land JJ Reddick, then perhaps they look to the Hornets and ask for Roger Mason, who is shooting 42% from behind the arc this season. Dell Demps loves to deal 2nd round picks, and has used them in the past to take gambles on guys like Xavier Henry, to help facilitate the Robin Lopez trade, and he sold a 2nd rounder to get the money for Gustavo Ayon, who turned into Ryan Anderson. So if Dell could get one of these trade chips for a guy who likely won’t put on a Pelicans jersey next season, he should pull the trigger.

2. Xavier Henry, Brian Roberts, and cash to the Kings for Aaron Brooks

The Kings are making trades that are financially motivated and whenever that happens, you have to look to take advantage. Aaron Brooks is a fantastic backup guard with a great contract, stuck on a horrible Kings team. He began the year as a starter and put up very good numbers. Then the Kings started messing around with their rotation and some nights he gets 30 minutes, while others he gets 5. It’s a mess in that backcourt. Over the course of his career, he is a guy who gives you 18 and 5 per 36 minutes while hitting 37% from three and 85% from the line. He has a player option that would cost the Hornets just 3.4 million dollars next year if he were to pick it up. Not bad for a guy who could help stabilize your bench and even become a spot starter if need be.

3. Lance Thomas to the Nuggets for Quincy Miller

The Nuggets are making a run at the Western Conference Finals this season and they are going to try to win the conference by playing with high energy and wearing teams down with their tremendous depth. Lance Thomas is a guy who gives maximum effort every minute he is on the floor and right now the only guy Denver has at power forward behind Kenneth Faried is Anthony Randolph. Quincy Miller has spent the majority of the season in the D-League and appears unable to crack the Nuggets rotation because they are so loaded at small forward. Even looking towards the future, they have guys like Jordan Hamilton and Evan Fournier ready to step in. The Hornets could buy low here on Miller, and it could pay off big a year or two down the line.

4. Robin Lopez to the Nets for Mirza Teletovic, Marshon Brooks, and 2013 1st rounder

The Nets have been shopping this package around but have found no takers. How about they try to reunite the Lopez brothers together once again? Sounds like a Prokorov type of move. The Nets talked about wanting to move Brook Lopez to power forward if Dwight Howard came in, and I am sure they can try to do that in stretches if Robin Lopez came to town. On the Hornets end, they get an electric scorer in Brooks who could score in bunches. His rookie year saw him put up nearly 13 points per game, scoring in a variety of ways. He has a very good mid-range game, which is hard to come by in this day and age, as he shot nearly 49% from 3-10 feet last year, which ranked in the top 20 amongst guards and wing players. Teletovic has solid potential and is on a good contract, but would likely be moved for something else since the Hornets have similar players in Anderson and Smith. The pick figures to be in the late teens/early 20’s, which could get you a quality player like Glenn Robinson III in this draft.

 


11 responses to “Four Non-Gordon Deals That Make Sense for Hornets”

  1. I don’t like the first, because Mason is like the only veteran on the team and I believe that helps out the young guys and because of that he has a greater value to the team than this trade would benefit.
    The second proposal makes no sense, unless one wants Brooks so badly on this team. I can’t see why, cause Roberts is playing solid and is amazingly cheap.
    The third proposal is worth consideration. Also Thomas is a great team guy, Quincy Miller has probably a lot of upside nobody really knows about and giving him some pt is attractive for the future.
    Four doesn’t look bad, but getting rid of a solid and quite young center at a moderate contract is somehow conterintuitive.

  2. For the Kings trade, I think it would be great for both cause the Kings have l think four PGs right now and they have Brooks on the bench with a 3 mill contract (I believe it is?) if they traded for Roberts, they get a scorer with a great contract plus they get a decent SG/SF in Henry. Wish we’d make this trade.

    I don’t know if I’d do the Raptors trade just cause of the leadership role that Mason plays. Every game I’ve been to, Smith and Mason have always been the ones to cheer people on and motivate them. Just my opinion.

    I would said I love the Nets deal but I don’t know anything about Mirza, I’m assuming he’s a center? I know Brooks is a soon to be beast! Having him as backup SG/SF would be GREAT!

    • Mirza is a poor man’s Ryan Anderson. He wouldn’t stay. After this trade I would look to move him and there would be some decent offers given his skill set and contract. The trade would basically be for Brooks, some cap space, and the pick. People who haven’t studied this draft are down on it, but there will be tons of value in the 20’s.

      The next step of my plan would be to use my cap space to go after Pekovic hard. He replaces Lopez and I shore up my bench with 2 draft picks, Brooks, whomever I get for Teletovic and another free agent signing like Corey Brewer.

  3. 20 minutes after the trade deadline. It appears no moves for the Hornets.

    Apparently we could’ve sent garbage players to get Thomas Robinson yesterday. 😛

  4. Like them all, except don’t think the Nets really want both Lopez twins. Wanting as superhero, Superman Dwight, is different than wanting a sidekick, Robin (Lopez and/or Batman’s ward).

  5. Hornets should’ve tried swinging a trade involving some combination of Gordon/Lopez/Vasquez and a 1st round pick for Rondo.

    I worked out a trade that would’ve sent Vasquez and Lopez to Boston, Boston sends us Rondo. We then send Henry to Sacramento and Sac sends Aaron Brooks to Boston. I think that trade would’ve been agreeable to every party. Boston gets 3 players to help them in their playoff push and an expiring contract as well as getting two good young players on cheap contracts to help in their eventual rebuild. Sacramento gets rid of a contract and gets a cheaper contract in return. The hornets meanwhile get one of the best PGs in the game. This would’ve allowed us to develop Austin at the point and hold on to eric gordon for a future trade or wait until next year and see how well he plays with rondo.

    Next year depending on off season signings and how well davis develops over the summer we could have a potential starting 5 of:
    Rondo
    Gordon
    Aminu
    Anderson
    Davis

    Thoughts on if this trade could possibly be pulled off during the summer?

    • I am glad we stood pat.

      It isn’t that I don’t like the players on other teams, it is just that they are all old or expensive.

  6. How about for once, lets not trade away our entire team and give the guys a chance to properly bond together. keep 75% of the roster together so they can learn to play together..

    It feels like ever year there is another 5 guy starting on the court!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.