Hornets should trade for Westbrook.. hear me out

[bLACKpANTHER]

The Miles Bridges situation has really derailed all the success we have been building towards over the past 3 years while the East just continues to get better. Right now we don't have a clear path to the playoffs:

MIL
BOS
BRK
PHI
MIA
CLE
----
ATL
TOR
CHI

All those teams have a more likely shot at getting into the playoffs or play-in games. We really need to rethink how we are gathering talent around Lamelo. It looks like the draft is the best way - but our best draft capital is tied up in other teams right now. We need to get some quality picks without tanking. Enter the Lakers and their 2027 & 2029 drafts picks. Lakers are so desperate to get off of Westbrook's contract and his game - that they are willing to attach their picks to send him off. Those picks will be gold in the future. There's no way anyone we could get anything of quality for Hayward and Plumlee except for this deal. This would be cashing in like crazy.

Trade:
CHA gets Westbrook (buyout) + 2027 & 2029 1st round picks
LAL gets Hayward + Plumlee

Roster:
PG- Ball - Martin
SG- Rozier - Bouk
SF- Oubre - McD
PF- PJ - Thor
C - Williams - Kai

Edited September 2, 2022 by bLACKpANTHER

[Proudiddy]

I hate to be that guy, but unless someone takes a monumental leap in development, our season is shot.  I don't think Westbrook changes that one way or another...

Only thing I'm really looking forward to is watching the young guys get burn.  I'm interested to see McDaniels in an expanded role now as well, because of Miles' absence...  but, Thor, Kai, Bouknight, and Williams getting a ton of burn with Melo is really all I feel excited about.  Between us giving away lottery picks and the Miles situation and then sitting on our hands all summer, we pretty much shat the bed this offseason about as bad as we possibly could have, all while teams we were vying to move up in the East with upgraded and got better.  

Sadly, for the first time in a few years, all my hopes are riding on the Panthers season (as long as Rhule stays out of the way), because our offseason really couldn't have went much worse.

[bLACKpANTHER]

the move for Westbrook is a move for the future - not this season

but i agree with you.. just want to see the young guys get minutes and improve

[tecc86]

I mean the success of our season at this point pretty much relies on Hayward staying healthy, if he stays healthy he easily replaces the production we lose from Miles.

I'm not against the Westbrook trade either though considering Hayward staying healthy is not likely at this point

[Lurk21]

I see what your saying... as in the buyout. Makes sense. What we could hope for is all the young talent developing faster and using some of the pieces to take a swing next year at a trade.  

[Wanderlai]

Hornets = purgatory

[Proudiddy]

7 hours ago, bLACKpANTHER said:

the move for Westbrook is a move for the future - not this season

but i agree with you.. just want to see the young guys get minutes and improve

I'm not gonna lie, BP, I didn't read all the way through because as soon as I saw the title, my frustration from this summer bubbled up and I had to use the thread to get it off my chest...  My apologies.  So, I went back and looked and I agree with your premise and proposal.  Hayward will never be healthy a full season, and even if he is, he is now entering the later half of his career, so his production, alrhough still good to very good, will likely never be what it was before.  And Plumlee to me never made sense.  He is a dinosaur in the modern NBA, and his contributions at best, are extremely limited.  Dump them for Russ, then have the cap room moving forward to keep adding around Melo and the emerging young guys.  I would be a lot more excited about that for 2023-24 than I am for what we're walking into 2022-23 with.

[MillionDollarCam]

Team needs a total rebuild but I’m not even sure how you do that with the way the roster is constructed.

Between Miles and our horrible drafts, we are in legit purgatory.

Cleveland managed to go about it the right way… Over the past five years they landed Sexton, Garland, Okoro, Mobley, and Agbaji in the draft. They acquired some good pieces in trades like Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert. And they made under the radar signings like Markkanen (a year ago), R. Lopez (this year), Rubio (this year), and Osman (a few years ago).

That textbook asset management allowed them to turn Sexton, Markkanen, and Agbaji (along with draft picks) into Mitchell. Now they are primed to compete and one star player away from being a contender in my opinion.

G - Garland, Rubio

G - Mitchell, LeVert

F - Okoro, Osman

F - Mobley, Love

C - Allen, Lopez

I’d kill for a well run organization like that.

[USDepartmentOfSavagery]

Honestly, it is time for another complete reset. I would seriously consider trading Melo next off-season and get something for him before he walks away and we get nothing. It’s really hard to pull for them right now. Outside of Miles being an idiot, they are largely in this position from their own incompetence. They did nothing this off-season to improve the team. Nothing. Maddening. Just trade Melo and get it over with. 

[Ornias]

9 hours ago, USDepartmentOfSavagery said:

Honestly, it is time for another complete reset. I would seriously consider trading Melo next off-season and get something for him before he walks away and we get nothing. It’s really hard to pull for them right now. Outside of Miles being an idiot, they are largely in this position from their own incompetence. They did nothing this off-season to improve the team. Nothing. Maddening. Just trade Melo and get it over with. 

I hate to agree with this. Melo is the best player we have had in a very long time but there is no way he is staying with this dumpster fire. Sad thing is even if they get 2 or 3 1st's for him they still have to draft well. We know the track record there.