(Chuck Burton/Associated Press)
The Charlotte Hornets are willing and ready to trade star point guard Kemba Walker, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:
Charlotte has been encouraging teams to make offers and appears eager to discuss attaching Walker to a larger trade in which another team would take on one of the Hornets’ several far-less-desirable contracts, sources said.
The Hornets are looking to unload a big contract and are using Walker as the bait. Walker is a good enough talent, however, that Charlotte can expect to get rid of one of those larger contracts and receive a good draft pick or a young and talented player. That’s what the Hornets have in mind, says Wojnarowski:
Charlotte is hopeful that the inclusion of Walker in a potential trade could help bring back a good, young player or a first-round draft pick.
As for which contract the Hornets are looking to trade, the Hornets have plenty of options; Wojnarowski reports that they’ve made the following players available: Nicolas Batum (four years, $100 million), Dwight Howard (two years, $47 million), Marvin Williams (three years, $42 million) and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (three years, $39 million). There’s also Cody Zeller, who’s on a four-year, $56 million contract. Zeller has shown promise, though, and the Hornets may be hoping to keep him around for the future.
Walker doesn’t want to be traded:
Kemba Walker: "I would definitely be devastated if I was to get traded."
— Dan Feldman (@DanFeldmanNBA) January 19, 2018
Walker, who made his first All-Star team last year, is averaging 21.7 points and 5.8 assists per game this season. His shooting numbers have regressed to the norm from last season; he’s shooting 34.9 percent from deep, much closer to his career average of 35.1 percent than his mark of 39.9 percent from last season.
