[Shams] Charlotte acquires Willy Hernangomez for Johnny O'Bryant and two 2nd round picks

Same here tbh.

But maybe they'd like to turn two long term and kinda heavy contracts into a single one...the fact that they traded for Hernangomez should also mean they'd gladly move Dwight or Zeller.

Not sure if fillers like the Memphis 2nd rounder, Williams, Nanu would be enough to convince them eventually though.

 

If memory serves, they have sold two out of their last three 2nd rounders for cash considerations. Don't think they value them much.

 

I like this one for both teams, although it's probably more of a win for New York. Hernangomez had no particular future in New York with Kanter and Kristaps as centerpieces of the team, so getting some pick depth was a nice return for him. But I do think he's a much better young player than the Hornets could have acquired in the second round, and they're not really going anywhere so they may as well give him a trial run next year.

 

Right. Even though (someone will eventually correct me here) i think we would still avoid luxury here by throwing in the deal the right amount of fillers between Black, Troy and Nanu.

 

Do you think they wouldn't get the 2nd rounders for him in summer? Why not play him a lot now that Kristaps' minutes are free and try to increase his value?

 

http://www.espn.com/nba/insider/sto...nangomez-trade-grades-knicks-hornets-deal-nba

The deal

Knicks get: Forward Johnny O'Bryant, two future second-round picks
Hornets get: Center Willy Hernangomez

Charlotte Hornets: B

At first blush, this trade doesn't look like much of a win for Hernangomez, whose representatives recently expressed to the Knicks their displeasure with his reduced role this season according to ESPN's Ian Begley. Having started 22 games and played 18.4 minutes per game last season, when he made the All-Rookie First Team, Hernangomez had been limited to 233 minutes total so far this year after New York added Enes Kanter as a starting center.

So the Knicks fulfilled Hernangomez's wishes ... and traded him to a team with an even more crowded depth chart at center, where Charlotte already has a player with extensive starting experience (Cody Zeller) backing up Dwight Howard.

My guess is the Hornets see Hernangomez and Zeller as mobile enough to play with each other. Hernangomez has played occasionally at power forward. According to NBA Advanced Stats, he played 215 minutes in 2016-17 with one of New York's other centers (Joakim Noah, Kyle O'Quinn and Marshall Plumlee). And Zeller began his career playing power forward next to Al Jefferson and Bismack Biyombo.

Nonetheless, an Hernangomez-Zeller duo would be light on perimeter shooting for a modern frontcourt. Hernangomez has made just 29 shots outside the paint in his career, according to Second Spectrum data powered by NBA Advanced Stats, shooting such attempts at a 33.3 percent clip. Zeller has made 28 of them over the same timeframe, shooting 34.6 percent. Howard, at 34, has actually made more shots outside the paint the last two seasons than either of his backups, though at a weaker percentage (28.3 percent).

If Charlotte finds Hernangomez and Zeller can't play together, that would be disappointing for the player but not the end of the world for the team. After all, Hernangomez could still be injury insurance for Zeller, who missed nearly two months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in early December. Adding Howard meant the Hornets were able to stay afloat without Zeller after going 3-17 in games he missed during 2016-17. Still, with O'Bryant serving as the third center, Charlotte has been outscored by 7.2 points per 100 possessions with both Howard and Zeller on the bench. Hernangomez should be able to help there.

In the long run, Hernangomez could be much more valuable to the Hornets when Howard's contract ends after the 2018-19 season. By that point, Hernangomez will still be playing on the four-year deal he signed with the Knicks last summer, which pays him just $1.5 million in 2018-19 and $1.7 million in 2019-20. For a Charlotte team skirting the luxury tax, having cost-controlled talent like Hernangomez is hugely valuable.

New York Knicks: C

It's hard to blame anybody for Hernangomez falling out of favor in New York. He's played well when given minutes, shooting a higher percentage on 2-point attempts than he did as a rookie (60.5 percent) though rebounding worse. The Knicks didn't exactly plan to add a center ahead of him, but Kanter was the logical return in the Carmelo Anthony trade and played well in the role Hernangomez had filled as a rebounder and finisher next to Kristaps Porzingis. (Alas, that role won't be available to Kanter either for the remainder of the season after Porzingis tore his ACL Tuesday.)

What does surprise me is Begley's reporting that New York is still looking for a taker for backup center Kyle O'Quinn ahead of Thursday's trade deadline. Had the Knicks been able to trade O'Quinn, they could simply have moved Hernangomez back into the rotation and everybody probably would have ended up happy. My original thought about this deal was it suggested New York had concluded there wasn't a reasonable deal for O'Quinn to be had before the deadline.

It's also possible O'Quinn could have resolved the dilemma by declining his $4.3 million player option for 2018-19 and hitting free agency this summer. Kanter also has a player option for 2018-19, though since his is so rich ($18.6 million), he's likely to exercise it. That does mean the Knicks now have only Noah signed to play center beyond the 2018-19 season, when Hernangomez still would have been on his minimum deal.

One interesting question is whether New York's thinking was informed by Porzingis' untimely ACL injury. As I noted, one possible impact of the injury could be Porzingis moving to center more quickly than the Knicks had planned. In that case, the value of any center would be lower to the organization, let alone one like Hernangomez who specifically offers complementary skills to Porzingis.

Down the road, New York could reap value from the second-round picks acquired in this trade. Pushing the picks out a couple of years has upside for the Knicks because it means they'll come after Kemba Walker reaches free agency in the summer of 2019. Even if Walker returns to the Hornets, the enormous raise he'll command will make it even more difficult for Charlotte to build around him. So I think there's a good chance the picks New York get in 2020 and 2021 (according to Shams Charania of Yahoo! Sports) end up being high in the round.​

 

Eh, that's my same feeling, the best we can offer outside of a future 1st (which is something we won't offer here, and rightfully so) is Memphis 2nd rounder (which is a decent pick btw), Zhou, Hartenstein...not exaclty a great package. Llull and Gentile have probably no value as today.

 

This seems like a good deal for the Hornets, and should be good news for any other buyers this deadline.

Hernangomez had a impressive rookie season, he's only 23 and has 2.5 years left on a dirt cheap contract (also will have a very cheap cap hold when he hits RFA in 2020). Yes he fell out of the rotation, but that's very likely on the Knicks... They have Kanter, O'Quinn, Noah, Porzingis, Beasley eating up all the minutes, honestly can't believe the Knicks sold the young one on a cheap rookie deal....

If he couldn't net a late 1st then a lot of others should have no chance (Skal, KOQ, Smart, Nance JR etc).

 

There is no reason why Hornets would do this! Trade their young talent for veterans? Don't waste space.

 

"Young talent"...Williams is 31 so, actually older than Ryan by two years. Zeller is 25 so yeah, still young, but he's in the league by 5/6 years, i'd say he is who he is as a player, which is good (imo) but probably not good enough to start in a great team.

 

My bad, I thought you were talking about the guy who this thread is about. I guess both our bads. . . . .

 

MOAR TRADES O

Ian Begley said they’re still taking calls on O’Quinn.

 

It's really hard to know if Rich Cho is bad at his job or if he's hamstrung by MJ.

 

On the other hand, this is a good example of Jordan being Jordan.

Whether it's him or Rich Cho, they need to figure out if they're going; up, down, or staying put. This Willy deal isn't even a lateral move if those picks end up being worth something to the Knicks. Which is a good possibility given the fact that they (Charlotte Hornets) are about a player or two away from being a complete rebuild... yet again.

 

This has very little to do with up or down and it isn't detrimental to that direction. Those 2nd round picks for Charlotte are worthless. They have retained and tried to develop 2nd rounders only a handful of times that I can recall in the Bobcat/Hornets era - Ryan Hollins, Derrick Brown, Jeffrey Taylor, Dwayne Bacon (one would assume). It matters not what NYK does with those picks, Charlotte hasn't been doing anything but selling them at best, drafting guys for 9 month bench rides normally. Recall they did all those gymnastics to trade the 41st pick with Marco/Miles for the 31st and Dwight to sell the 31st for cash and the 39th? pick to get Bacon? Cannot imagine Charlotte views 2nd rounders as anything other than an alternative to UFAs, not some greater of the two options.

As for Zach Lowe's comments above, I watch a lot of their games and don't see how Frank K is in the mix to be outside looking in here. He's one of two PF/C types (along with Marvin) that can shoot from range. With Hernangomez having no range as well as Dwight and Cody, it's one of those two that they are likely to ship out.

 

Charlotte is trying to shed salary, but will have a hard time doing it. I bet they'd only entertain that offer if we threw in 2 firsts, which they could keep or use in future trades to unload their bad contracts.