Report | Charlotte Listed As Possible Landing Spot for Lakers D'Angelo Russell
The Charlotte Hornets are reportedly active in the trade market. With the Rozier trade being the first step of a retool opening up $45 million in CAP space, Charlotte appear likely to use some of that space to take on bad salary in return of future draft picks.
Johan Buva who covers the Lakers and Clippers for The Athletic recently appeared on Mike Scotto's Hoopshype podcast to discuss the LA Lakers trade interest in Dejounte Murray. On the podcast he listed Charlotte as a possible facilitating trade partner for a deal involving the Hawks and Lakers.
Johan Buha - "Right now, you’re highlighting the hurdle, I think, with this trade (Dejounte Murray to LAL) right now with the Lakers needing to find a third team because that’s how it usually goes. If you’re Atlanta, they don’t want to take back D’Angelo, so you need to find a third team and figure out what you can add to sweeten it to get them involved and then send D’Angelo somewhere else."
Johan Buha - "You mentioned some of the names I heard out there. Brooklyn, Charlotte, Washington. Detroit and San Antonio also could get involved. It has to be a team willing to take on some bad money, likely a lottery team, that’ll look to recoup assets from the Lakers in the form of a second-round pick or two or a future pick swap. They don’t have another first to trade because it would go to Atlanta in the potential framework of this deal. Right now, this is what the Lakers are trying to figure out. Who can be that third team, what do they have to add to the deal, and are they comfortable with that?"
Analysis For The Hornets
Facilitating this trade as the third team makes a lot of sense for the Hornets. Not only would Charlotte be able to use one of their expiring contracts in Lowry or Hayward to add future draft capital, but also add another ball handler to their back-court.
If Russell were to buy into a back-up role behind Lamelo Ball, he would dramatically raise the offensive ceiling of the second unit. I would rule out the possibility of him starting next to LaMelo from the start due to the offensive overlap and defensive concerns. The Hornets would also have chance to trade Russell for additional value again in the Summer or at next year's trade deadline
Based off the reporting from Scotto and Buha, the structure of a deal would look something like this:
Lakers-Hornets-Hawks Mock Trade
With limited trade opportunities due to the size of Lowry and Hayward's contract, Charlotte should explore all possibilities. Could Mitch Kupchak tap into his old contacts with the Lakers to make this deal reality?
