Charlotte Hornets: General Manager Kemba Walker?
The Charlotte Hornets are done playing, but that does not mean that the players don’t have their own wish lists for the off season.
The Charlotte Hornets are in the off-season now and they are looking at a strategy for improvement before next season. Perhaps they are already telling us what they will do through the words of their best player Kemba Walker.
The player as general manager formula is poo-pooed in the league, but there are those who believe that it exists. Most people believe that the Cleveland Cavs are run by LeBron James and his wants become their decisions. How else do you explain the franchise taking on the mountain of luxury tax to keep everybody well paid?
Walker is the closest thing that the Hornets have to that, but nobody is quite like James and the Cavs. In the spirit though, Walker was asked by fans at a 7th Street Market event about many things as reported by Glenn Burkins of QCityMetro. Those things included the team’s draft prospects and free agent needs.
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For the free agency question, Walker had a simple answer: sign Blake Griffin. Griffin is an interesting choice because his arrival would juggle the roster a bit. He needs the paint area, but he also needs a big man who can play off of him. That would indicate more of a role for Frank Kaminsky and a diminished role for Marvin Williams.
Signing Griffin would be prohibitively expensive unless the Hornets could engage in a sign and trade deal. I don’t feel that much interest for the Clippers to get Miles Plumlee in return. I doubt a draft pick would change their feelings much either.
Mentioning Griffin is also an admission by Walker that he needs more direct scoring help, whether he realizes it or not.
Walker was also asked about the upcoming draft. He answered the question in the spirit that the Hornets would have a high lottery pick (12). He pointed out two big men, Zach Collins and Bam Adebayo. His focus on front court help could show that the Hornets are still trying to improve over Cody Zeller down low.
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Collins is the Gonzaga freshman center that got taken with fouls against North Carolina, but was extremely effective against South Carolina in the Final Four. He showed good understanding of post play and a shot from the college three point line. If he can shot block, then he might well be an answer in the post.
Kentucky’s Bam Adebayo is a smaller player (6’10”) compared to Collins and comes from the more rugged school of play. While Collins has more shooter skill, Adebayo is more in the mold of the traditional post. That would mean a role in front of or behind Zeller in the rotation.
Big men are where Walker’s brain is, but it begs the question: what about Plumlee? Any of these moves would make the Duke alum superfluous on the roster. Are the Hornets willing to go into the luxury tax to buy him out? If not, then Walker’s dreams may be just like ours: just dreams.