OKC Thunder trade primer: Hornets seek to build the hive around Kemba Walker
Fit and likelihood of Hornets assets and OKC Thunder:
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Although Mitch Kupchak will be active on the phones the question is how much emphasis is tied to winning now? Charlotte is in a catch 22 because they need to get salary off their books while also keeping Walker happy.
As Zach Lowe of ESPN so adequately points out
"Charlotte will be over the tax next season as things stand now if they re-sign Kemba Walker, and it seems wildly implausible Michael Jordan will pay the tax for a mediocre team. Their ideal scenario is improving their current team and somehow trimming next season’s tax bill. Good luck!"
As for the two players on the board, Williams is the more appealing especially his two 3-pointers per game. Yet, his price tag of $15M makes him a bit rich to add to the Thunder. At $7M Lamb is far more palatable, but he’ll want a raise in free agency which would likely mean he’d be a spring rental only.
Looking at the ESPN trade machine the issue for Sam Presti is he would have to give up a valuable group of players to add Williams given his price tag. And that’s just not going to happen. For example, Presti could swap Dennis Schroder for Williams but he’s not about to do that.
Next. Taking advantage of the circus in Los Angeles. dark
Likewise, Presti could use the trade exception he has to obtain Lamb, but I’m not sure it’s the best way to use that exception when Lamb won’t move the needle far enough for this season and will want too much next season.
Likelihood Grade: 0 out of 10