Charlotte Hornets Shouldn't Trade for Anthony Davis for One Big Reason

If you told any Charlotte Hornets fans before the season that they'd win six in a row right before the deadline and have a legit chance at trading for Anthony Davis, they would've jumped for joy.

Even the most optimistic fans understood that center was a major question mark. Moussa Diabaté was fun, but he probably wasn't equipped to handle the five as a starter playing big minutes. Ryan Kalkbrenner was exciting, but he was a second-round pick.

So the idea of adding Davis would've sounded like a match made in heaven. Some still would argue that it is a match made in heaven. It's probably not, but regardless, it doesn't need to happen.

There are many factors to this, but it all boils down to the fact that the combination of Diabaté and Kalkbrenner has been pretty good, making it not worth the price to move for Davis.

Moving for Anthony Davis would disrupt arguably the best starting lineup (by net rating) in the NBA since it would move either Miles Bridges (unless he was in the Davis package) or Diabaté to the bench, neither of which seems ideal right now.

Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis (3) looks to pass against the Utah Jazz | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Davis would cost a bunch, but he's been pretty disappointing while on the court (which is another major issue). Both Diabaté and Kalkbrenner have played more than Davis. He has a -4.6 net rating, which is not ideal.

For comparison, Kalkbrenner has a -5.1 net rating, which isn't all that surprising for a second-round rookie. Sure, Davis will likely get better, but why fork over a million assets and take on an albatross contract for a similar player to Kalkbrenner?

Davis has been slightly worse (0.1 to be exact) on offense than Kalkbrenner, which is alarming. He's a defensive guy, but he's also been pretty good on the offensive end throughout his career. On defense, he's been pretty solid, but he's only 0.5 points better in defensive rating, so it's not a meaningful gap between him and Kalkbrenner.

That doesn't even mention Diabaté, who has been lightyears ahead of Davis this year. Diabaté clears Davis by 10.2 points of offensive rating. He's also 2.4 points better in defensive rating. Now, over a full season, that would probably not be the case.

But since it currently is the case and a full season of Davis is unlikely, why on earth would the Hornets deplete their reserve of assets, trade someone expensive like Miles Bridges or LaMelo Ball, and disrupt their chemistry when they're finally winning?

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