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This offseason is one full of questions for the Charlotte Hornets. What do you do with the No. 2 pick? What do you do with Miles Bridges? What do you do with PJ Washington? Now there is another question that needs to be on the table according to the Mac & Bone Show’s Travis Hancock.
On Friday, he suggested that the team should take a serious look at a name that has come up before as a possible trade target, Kristaps Porzingis. “They need someone that can stretch the floor consistently,” he said. “The amount of open looks that that Stretch 4 is gonna get in an offense that features LaMelo and Scoot would be insane and that is the game that Porzingis has.”
Porzingis finished this past season with his highest career points per game average at 23.0 points per game and coupled that with a career-best 49.8% field goal percentage. His 38.5% three-point percentage was the second-highest mark of his career and he played the most games that he has since his first two seasons in the league.
The biggest obstacle to this idea will be the contract situation for Porzingis. He has a player option for this upcoming season that he has to make a decision on before the June 21st deadline. If he chooses to opt out, he would be leaving behind a $36,016,200 base salary that he is set to get in the final season of the five-year deal that he signed with Dallas back in the summer of 2019. That opt out, though, would allow the Wizards to be able to offer him a 4-year, $180 million deal. If he does become a full-fledged free agent, the Hornets will have to be will to spend and spend a lot.
Earlier today, Spotrac and NBA Front Office Show contributor Keith Smith stopped by with the Mac & Bone Show and said he could get behind the move. “I think Porzingis would be a wonderful fit in Charlotte because of his ability to spread the floor. It’s just how are you going to get there? Do you have a sign-and-trade package to offer Washington that could get them interested?”
There are a lot of moving parts here for the Hornets to be able to get this done, but adding a Stretch 4 that can consistently knock down shots from the outside needs to be a priority this offseason.
FULL KEITH SMITH INTERVIEW
