Nurkic and 2026 1st for Cody and Vasa

[vorbis]

well, the value for this trade is great. no half measures. puts the Mark Williams trade in a bit of a better light. just gotta see the next steps in the plan. tear downs have happened before, and the tearing down is the easy part.

[EmpireFalls]

Incredible value. No notes.

[MasterIchiro]

Projected roster players for next year:

LaMelo
Knecht
Miller
Miles
Nurkic
Mann
Green
Okogie
NSJ
Salaün
Grant
Lottery pick
Pick 33
Pick 34
MLE

That's 15 with Moussa on a 2-way. They probably leave the MLE open to absorb players at next deadline.

The primary goal for the summer if we want to stay competitive should be to upgrade Nurkic by attaching some permutation of up to (4) 1st round picks that does NOT include future Hornets 1sts. Those should be off-limits because we have outside 1st round picks.

2026 1st via Memphis/Magic (worse)
2027 1st via Heat lottery-protected
2027 Mavs 1st top-2 protected
2031 Lakers 1st

I think a bundle of 2 firsts nets a starter these days. So we have the assets to add 2 starters.

Matching salary for one is Nurkic expiring.

Matching salary for the other is Green (2 yrs).

So we're showing ~2 starters under capacity. Plus 4 Hornets 1sts to add 1-2 more starting caliber rotation players.

Overall, we're showing under ~4 starting caliber players to go with LaMelo, Miller and our 2025 lottery pick.

That's a 7 man rotation.

It would be nice, however unlikely, if 3 of: Mann, NSJ, Okogie, Salaün, or Knecht become starting caliber rotation players for a playoff team.

Lengthens the rotation to 10.

Right now, the roster looks like a skeleton crew, but we look like our position is worse than it really is. We are in a much better position than people realize.

[Bassman]

Had to have a legit center. I loved Nurkic back in his surprising early days and wanted the Hornets to trade for him when Joker jumped ahead of him at Denver. Obviously he’s had some pretty rough injuries, so the mileage on his 30 year old body is lower than normal. His production fell off a lot; still perhaps a new team + motivated Nurkic can be a pleasant surprise.

The trade itself was pretty good. Takes us just under the luxury tax, so no wiggle room this summer. Like last year, let’s hope Dalton and Melo get some time in with the others, get acquainted, and see what we’ve got without screwing up the tank. As for Nurkic, I hope he discovers a new revival of his best self. Would love to see him deliver us a legit starter at the 5; so good that nobody dares to suggest trading him away as an expiring. I don’t really expect that but we need some luck.

[Snidely FC]

do people realize you now have to watch Jusuf Nurkic play as your favorite teams starting center ew

[GoBobs]

A reasonable deal. Probably going to age well until we end up picking a bust.

At least we have picked a direction.

[JustBuzzin]

Nurkic'n A Fool!

Never trust a man who let Draymond manhandle him.

[amcoolio]

I read the Suns will not bring back Martin or Micic next season, it was basically just to get off Nurkic's money next year.... so maybe we can bring Martin back.. but I'm sure he wants to move on

[JustBuzzin]

If they don't want our scraps why should we bring them back?

Martin was not good. Our role players suck all of them except for Mann. Time to rebuild the right way.

[Liver_Pooty]

If they don't want our scraps why should we bring them back?

Martin was not good. Our role players suck all of them except for Mann. Time to rebuild the right way.

Martin is a solid defender. I want nothing to do with Micic ever again.

[Walt Cronkite]

Everyone wins. Good trade.

[luciano-davidwesley]

I'll miss Cody for his hustle and charge drawing acumen. I wish him well.

Overall this deal was pretty good value only eating one bad year of salary.

Anyone think we might trade one of the Mavs, Heat or Lakers firsts this year and have two bites in the first round or possibly move up if the lotto balls betray us again?

[Snidely FC]

yeah, wanna echo fats and l-d appreciation for Cody. he is a terrific wing defender (top 10 in stocks) but a luxury on a losing team. he belongs on a playoff team that's where his value will shine

[Bassman]

Anyone think we might trade one of the Mavs, Heat or Lakers firsts this year and have two bites in the first round or possibly move up if the lotto balls betray us again?

I’m thinking the same thing, especially if we get super lucky and land Flagg. The price to move into the top 3, especially #1, will be enormous…likely too much. So if we DID get #1, perhaps deal a couple of firsts for a pick in the 4-8 range to grab Edgecomb or a quality big.

[LurkCobain]

Projected roster players for next year:

LaMelo
Knecht
Miller
Miles
Nurkic
Mann
Green
Okogie
NSJ
Salaün
Grant
Lottery pick
Pick 33
Pick 34
MLE

That's 15 with Moussa on a 2-way. They probably leave the MLE open to absorb players at next deadline.

The primary goal for the summer if we want to stay competitive should be to upgrade Nurkic by attaching some permutation of up to (4) 1st round picks that does NOT include future Hornets 1sts. Those should be off-limits because we have outside 1st round picks.

2026 1st via Memphis/Magic (worse)
2027 1st via Heat lottery-protected
2027 Mavs 1st top-2 protected
2031 Lakers 1st

I think a bundle of 2 firsts nets a starter these days. So we have the assets to add 2 starters.

Matching salary for one is Nurkic expiring.

Matching salary for the other is Green (2 yrs).

So we're showing ~2 starters under capacity. Plus 4 Hornets 1sts to add 1-2 more starting caliber rotation players.

Overall, we're showing under ~4 starting caliber players to go with LaMelo, Miller and our 2025 lottery pick.

That's a 7 man rotation.

It would be nice, however unlikely, if 3 of: Mann, NSJ, Okogie, Salaün, or Knecht become starting caliber rotation players for a playoff team.

Lengthens the rotation to 10.

Right now, the roster looks like a skeleton crew, but we look like our position is worse than it really is. We are in a much better position than people realize.

Moussas gonna get converted to a regular contract. I bet they package the two 2nds to jump back in the first. But the rest seems true.

[JMAC3]

Anyone think we might trade one of the Mavs, Heat or Lakers firsts this year and have two bites in the first round or possibly move up if the lotto balls betray us again?

I’m thinking the same thing, especially if we get super lucky and land Flagg. The price to move into the top 3, especially #1, will be enormous…likely too much. So if we DID get #1, perhaps deal a couple of firsts for a pick in the 4-8 range to grab Edgecomb or a quality big.

I don't that is a good strategy, I would rather trade the picks for an established player then risk trading multiple firsts for a guy who might be a bust.

[Chapelchilla]

I would love to get Flagg and then trade back in for the other Duke big man. fixes up the inside immediately. Melo, Knecht, Bridges and Miller with Flagg and some size is pretty solid.