Roster - Charlotte Hornets

Trade Retrospective

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Trade Retrospective Some time has passed since the Hornet's big trade before the draft. We thought we'd take a look back to see how we feel about it now before moving the focus to the fast approaching new season. The Deal - Hornets receive Joel Embiid from the Spurs Spurs receive Myles Turner, Dejounte Murray, Lonnie Walker and a lottery protected 2020 1st rounder from the Hornets How it came about It was actually a Chicago / Boston deal that went down a couple of days prior that pushed the urgency button for the Hornet's GM. We woke one day to find Stephen Curry on the move. We had been waiting for a superstar to become available so we could throw some of our young talent together in a consolidating move. So to see Curry traded without ever hitting the open market or without any mention he was available left us looking over the league trying to work out who could be next. It was soon after this that GM Leeroy mentioned Embiid's name in an open forum and the possibility that he could be moved. We were quick to pick up the phone and let our interest be known. Negotiations continued for a couple of days before a final deal was ironed out and agreed to. How do we feel now? No more certain now then when the deal was actually made. It was a difficult decision to break up the group. We'd spent 4 years playing the patient building game. We were coming off a 50-win season in 2017/18 with a team full of kids and never got a chance to see what that team could actually become due to a horrendous injury toll last season. I expect we're the only team in NLL history that has entered a season with a 15-man squad consisting entirely of players we actually drafted ourselves in the rookie draft. That was the position we were in at the start of last season. So, to finally break up the crew was tough. We're under no illusions that Embiid, right now, is a true difference maker on a team and will absolutely make the Hornet's stronger in games.....this season. Casting our eyes down the road long-term, that confidence wavers. BUT, as Gm's you have to make some hard decisions, you can't keep everyone and the numbers crunch becomes real as your youngsters all come off rookie deals, you just hope you keep the right ones. Bidding Adieu As the organisation now looks to the future, we'd like to pay final respects to the players that have moved on to other teams. All are still 25 and under so have the peak of their careers ahead of them. All would be welcomed back and hopefully at some point in time they make it back to the Hornet's nest. Myles Turner - 9th All-time Scorer in Hornet's team history, 5th in Blocks, 5th in Steals, 2nd in Rebounds Gary Harris - 8th All-time Scorer in Hornet's team history, 6th in Steals, 2nd in 3pters Made, 4th in Games Played Dejounte Murray & Lonnie Walker - Too young to have carved out big numbers for the team but can put their stamp on a Spurs roster moving forward.