Charlotte Hornets fans have a lot of experience longing for better centers. For a while, it looked like the team had finally remedied that problem. Mark Williams was a first round pick that was putting up big numbers when healthy, Nick Richards had plenty of moments bringing energy off the bench, and Moussa Diabate become a fan favorite after getting found on the scrap heap.
The Hornets unloaded Nick Richards to the Suns. Sure, fine. Diabate looks like he can be a good backup, and the Hornets got second round assets and a usable player in Okogie for an expiring contract. The Hornets brought in Jusuf Nurkic in a later trade, which seemed like a fine stopgap solution. Then we got to the offseason. Mark Williams was traded for first round picks and Nurkic was shipped off for Collin Sexton (and a 2nd round pick for some reason). The only things the Hornets have done to plug those holes are use a second round pick on Ryan Kalkbrenner and sign Mason Plumlee.
So now we’re back to being vexed with the center position. The entire group is making about $6 million total this season. Naturally, we’re all going to look for ways that the team can improve the position. We’ve postulated on trade targets and the prices it would take to acquire them.
None of it is going to happen.
That’s not to say the team isn’t trying to upgrade. That’s not to say the team isn’t trying to be good. The Collin Sexton trade made the team better. They didn’t have to re-sign Tre Mann or add Spencer Dinwiddie, but they did. Those moves make the team better. The Hornets are going to be as good as they can be with the team they have assembled. But that does not mean they’re going to go chasing a center simply because they make the team better right now, as much as we might want them to.
If Jeff Peterson and the rest of the front office have proven anything, it’s that they are not taking a myopic approach towards building the roster. Every move they’ve made has been an opportunity. It’s a deal they can build with. They’ve taken on new players, but those players have always come with draft capital attached. They’re not going to stop doing that until they feel like there’s an opportunity to take the next step. I don’t think that next step is climbing into a middle tier playoff spot with an average or even good center that costs the team some of those assets. They’re trying to build the Thunder way by adding talent and keeping the cupboards stocked in the future.
So while it’s enticing to envision this team competing for the playoffs with someone like Daniel Gafford, Nic Claxton, or whoever else in the middle, it’s not going to happen unless their teams want to unload them for some reason. If the Hornets are going to use any of their future assets, it’s going to be a player that significantly moves the needle towards contention, much like the Pacers did with Pascal Siakam last season. That would be players like Domantas Sabonis, Bam Adebayo, or maybe even Lauri Markkanen. I don’t think any moves like that are on the table right now, but that can change at the trade deadline depending on how the season goes.
John Hollinger wrote a winners and losers column for the start of free agency (he called the Hornets winners by the way). But one piece of it stuck out to me.
Now, we’re seeing a new phenomenon where some teams spend the summer prepping their rosters so they can wheel and deal the first week in February: by adding middle-class contracts or giving short balloon contracts to fringe players just so there is tradeable salary on the books come winter, or by lining up future draft picks so the Stepien rule doesn’t torpedo a blockbuster trade, or by managing the tax aprons so their midseason trade flexibility isn’t compromised.
That seems to be the method the Hornets are following. The roster is prepped to swoop in and poach a big name should one become available during a disappointing season. That’s when I’d be looking for the Hornets to make a move, and I’d expect to be a big one should they make it. I don’t think a regular quality center is the goal, and I don’t think there are opportunities out there to upgrade the roster right now. So we’ll have to continue to be patient and prepare ourselves for a nice helping of Mason Plumlee minutes at center for a little while.