Should Charlotte Hornets call Cavaliers about Kevin Porter Jr. and their centers?
The Cleveland Cavaliers have a lot of centers and a young, troubled player in Kevin Porter, Jr.
Should that draw the Charlotte Hornets’ attention?
Multiple reports say Porter will be traded or waived after he got into a screaming match with Cavs officials over his locker being moved. Previous to that incident, Porter hadn’t played this season for what the Cavs have described as personal reasons.
Also, Cleveland was part of the Houston-Brooklyn-Indiana trade that sent James Harden to the Nets. The Cavs now have Jarrett Allen at center, added to Andre Drummond and JaVale McGee.
Should general manager Mitch Kupchak be on the phone with the Cavs? That tops your questions for this Hornets mailbag:
Embreezy asks: Should the Hornets look into the Kevin Porter Jr., and big-man situations in Cleveland?
Short answer: Kupchak should, and I’m confident does, explore all sorts of things that don’t become public.
Long answer: I’d be wary of giving up a future pick to acquire Porter. This isn’t the first time there have been behavior issues. He was suspended in his one college season at Southern Cal. That factored in his slipping to the bottom of the first round in the 2019 draft.
The Hornets don’t need more wing players right now, and it sounds like Porter needs some time to reevaluate how to be an NBA player. If he’s waived and the Hornets want to consider him without guaranteed money? Sure. But I wouldn’t give up a draft pick and absorb a contract to make that happen.
I understand the curiosity about Drummond, considering the Hornets’ ongoing rebounding issues. Drummond leads the NBA in total rebounds.
Drummond makes $28.7 million this season, then will become an unrestricted free agent entering his 10th NBA season next fall. So the Hornets would either be trading for a six-month rental or deal with an expensive re-signing.
Fans have criticized the Hornets in the past for quick-fix trades that have little lasting value. I wouldn’t give up much in draft capital to make a Drummond trade happen.
Lefty asks: Do you think it’s more likely the Hornets re-sign Devonte Graham or try to acquire something before he’s eligible to sign elsewhere?
I think it’s more likely Graham reaches restricted free agency as a Hornet next season than being traded before then. The key word in that sentence is restricted.
If Graham was unrestricted at the end of this season, that might change the dynamic. But with the Hornets able to make an affordable qualifying offer to match an offer sheet, it seems the most likely scenario is playing this out to next summer.
Scott asks: What role do the Martin twins have in the Hornets’ future?
Solid, multi-position reserves. They add some positional size, plus toughness and intensity. But I don’t know that either one ends up a starter in more than injury fill-in situations.
Both can have careers as complementary players. However, they’re likely guys at the fringe of NBA rotations.
Roy asks: Is it too late for Malik Monk to gain coach James Borrego’s confidence?
I wouldn’t use the term “too late” because Borrego has been known to revisit who’s playing and who isn’t pretty regularly. More than most NBA coaches I’ve covered, he’s liable to sub in a guy who hasn’t played in a half-dozen games just to explore options.
Having said that, Monk’s situation in Charlotte looks tenuous. That is mostly Borrego having more options on the perimeter, with the additions of Gordon Hayward and LaMelo Ball and the improvement of Caleb Martin. But it’s also the time and momentum Monk lost in the preseason due to a 10-day absence from COVID-19.
Keith asks: Which Hornets players are likely headed to the G-League bubble?
Grant Riller and Nate Darling, Charlotte’s two-way contracts, are just about automatic to go to Disney’s campus outside Orlando. Fla., for the G-League season, to be coached by Hornets assistant Jay Hernandez.
The Hornets haven’t yet said who’ll go, but I don’t know why second-round big men Vernon Carey and Nick Richards wouldn’t. Maybe not for the entire G-League season, but for a large portion. Those guys aren’t getting into games, and practice time is quite limited.
The best thing for their development would be heavy minutes with the Greensboro Swarm, similar to how Graham, the Martin twins and Jalen McDaniels were overseen the past two Charlotte seasons.
Stroupe-a-loop asks: What was your favorite rookie season in Hornets/Bobcats history?
That’s easy: Larry Johnson averaging 19 points, 11 rebounds and nearly four assists in 1991-92.
It wasn’t just LJ’s ability — so strong, so skilled (remember the “Dallas” play, where the other four Hornets cleared out to the edge of the court to free him to create off dribble). It was his rapid ability to learn the NBA game and his rare charisma.
Veteran teammates didn’t just accept Johnson, they loved the guy in a way that immediately made him a leader.
This story was originally published January 19, 2021 at 1:42 PM with the headline "Should Charlotte Hornets call Cavaliers about Kevin Porter Jr. and their centers?."
