Roundtable: Should the Hornets Make an Aggressive Trade Offer for Donovan Mitchell?

Schuyler Callihan

I may be in the minority here, but I do think the Hornets should at least try to make a run at Mitchell. Should it be an aggressive approach? I wouldn't go that far, but at least pick up the phone and see what it would take to get a deal done. Assuming the Hornets move off of Miles Bridges, they need to make a splash of some sort. They can't go into the 2022 season with the current roster and expect to see an increased win total. I'd be okay parting with Gordon Hayward, Terry Rozier, JT Thor, and three firsts. Anything more than that is too much, in my opinion. Again, it wouldn't hurt to see what the Jazz would want but it's not worth giving up the entire farm for Mitchell.

Eric Barnes

No, I don’t believe so. It is going to cost Hornets every draft pick and young player in their arsenal. And while yes, it would make us better in the short term I don’t know if the cost of acquiring him will yield the results you are looking for in a stacked eastern conference.

Ian Black

While Donovan Mitchell is obviously a great basketball player, I don’t know that the Hornets match up well as trade partners. The team is currently lacking much appealing young talent beyond LaMelo Ball, and that would likely mean a lot of picks heading to Utah in a deal. Does Mitchell put the Hornets over any major hump? Probably not if any valuable pieces are heading out along the way. As an example, if the Hornets gave up Hayward (to match salary), PJ, and Bouknight for say Mitchell & Rudy Gay, the Jazz would still likely ask for 3+ outright firsts, and possibly some pick swaps as well. If somehow a deal like that went through, the Hornets likely only jump from a top-10ish team in the East to maybe top-8, maybe top-6 if Bridges is on the court and some of the remaining young players take some big steps forward. That’s a hefty price to still be hovering around the play-in games. I’m of the belief that over-patience can breed underwhelming results for small market teams like Charlotte, but I don’t think the roster is set up to currently take a stab on Mitchell, even if that type of player makes sense in the future.

Tim Rogers

Unequivocally no. Donovan Mitchell is perhaps the most overrated player in the league. An undersized two guard who has not played defense since his Summer League debut. When his shot is falling the offense can look gorgeous but it is little more than a mirage in the long run. Despite being categorized as an offensive centerpiece he has a career True Shooting percentage of 55% which lands him right at league average. The Hornets should look at their divisional rival, Washington Wizards, who are stuck in the never-ending Bradley Beal conundrum and realize Mitchell is a slightly smaller retread who would leave them stranded in no mans land while also stealing any future hope of a supporting cast from franchise player LaMelo Ball.

Jon Yeager

As fun as an offensive pairing of Donovan Mitchell and LaMelo would be, I would have to say no as well. I would think a package would start at Terry, Bouknight and PJ plus three first rounders which is just way too much for this Charlotte team. There wouldn’t be much in terms of proven players to surround your new backcourt with. If you could keep PJ and maybe only give up two first rounders, I would really consider it under that scenario, but I don’t think that’s enough for the Jazz and they’ll have a better offer elsewhere. Giving up the three first rounders would severely hurt Charlottes ability to build around them since they have to rely so heavily on their draft picks. Also, as was mentioned above, I don’t think this move really gets you very far in the eastern conference this year and in the long run. They might be able to compete for a top six seed this year, but it doesn’t push them above any of the top four/five in the East. They would then be left with very little capital to get them over the hump in future seasons.

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