HornetJail wrote:gswhoops wrote:Yeah I don't see the appeal here at all for Charlotte. Barrett is fool's gold and just clogs an already crowded wing rotation.
I do agree with this, I don't think Barrett is anything, but I think we're giving up so little (read: nothing) that we don't even feel bad if he turns out to be nothing and we just let him walk in the 2027 offseason. All we're giving up here is $14M in cap next summer.
Right now, I think I would do this trade (if nothing materialized for a big man) and experiment with micro-ball all season, with scoring at pretty much every spot on the roster
If we're going to be bad by blowing a hole in the center rotation and not fixing it, might as well get creative doing it.
Rotation:
Melo/Mann
Sexton/Kon
Miller/Barrett/[more Kon]
Bridges/[more Miller or Barrett]
Moussa/[more Bridges/Grant Williams/some Kalkbrenner?]
At least everyone on that team can score except Moussa and could create some mismatches. And if Melo gets hurt for an extended period, there's still ample scoring on this team to stay afloat, unlike previous years where the entire offense would just die
It's not nothing though. Theres an opportunity cost for starting a high usage, meh efficiency player like Barrett when you have so many mouths to feed on offense. Brandon Miller might be the player with the most trade value on the Hornets roster and the third year is the most important year for prospects like Miller. That's before you get to Barrett taking away touches from the two guys they just drafted (or Miles, Melo, and perhaps even Saluan).
If the plan is to develop young guys while putting together a high level offense and punting on defense until next summer, and I hope that's the plan, then trading for a ball stopper who's going to be worried about his next contract is counterproductive.