Charlotte Hornets: The Messy Strange Southeast Division
The Charlotte Hornets have to take advantage of the strange circumstances of its divisional brethren.
The Charlotte Hornets lost to the Detroit Pistons last night. It was the second game of a back to back and the Hornets gave as much as they had. The result did bring them into a tie with the Atlanta Hawks for the division lead. That is the most important result of what happened last night. The Southeast Division is doing weird things around the Hornets.
First, there is the Hawks. Despite moving into a tie with the Hornets, the biggest move for the Hawks last night was their trade of Kyle Korver to the Cleveland Cavs for a first round draft pick. Korver’s shooting has been a big ingredient for the Hawks in the past few years and trading him does not make a ton of sense.
The price tag on Korver is pretty small too. The Cavs had to give up a first round pick. That sounds like a big deal, but it is likely to be one of the bottom picks in the first round. The Cavs are a team looking for now, and their need for Korver should have given the Hawks more leverage.
The Hawks remain the biggest threat in the division even without Korver, but their motives are harder to understand now.
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Then there is the team that time forgot. The Miami Heat beat the Hornets in the first round of the playoffs just last year. Now they are watching the wheels fall off the wagon. Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Luol Deng all departed in the off season for one reason or another. Now Justise Winslow is out for the year. There are discussions where Goran Dragic, their theoretical offensive centerpiece, should be traded at the deadline.
The Hornets have to take advantage of Korver’s departure and Winslow’s injury to win some divisional games when the time comes. Every loss to the Heat becomes a sticking point in their current state. The Hawks have to be reprimanded on the court for trading Korver.