Golden State Warriors Receive: F Gordon Hayward, F/C P.J. Washington
Charlotte Hornets Receive: G/F Andrew Wiggins, C James Wiseman
There are offseason trade ideas and then there is this trade proposal, which would surely cause a lot of people to scratch their head. Why in the world would not only the Hornets trade both Gordon Hayward and P.J. Washington, but why would the Warriors entertain the idea of trading Andrew Wiggins and their young, potential star center in James Wiseman?
Well, for starters, the Golden State Warriors are in a really awkward position as a franchise right now. Klay Thompson missing his second consecutive season due to injury is definitely a major concern both now and moving forward, but the Warriors will be about $50M over the salary cap entering the offseason and they will have to deal with Steph Curry’s contract situation, as the 2x MVP is eligible for a contract-extension in the offseason.
Wiggins is owed $31.5M next season and a total of $65.1M through the 2022-23 season, so it would definitely make sense for the Warriors to entertain the idea of trading Wiggins to free up this cap space, but in this deal with the Hornets, they would be getting Hayward and Washington back in return, who combined will make close to $110M over the course of the next two to three seasons.
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As for the Hornets, they have a great thing going right now, so why would they look to tear things apart? James Wiseman has a ton of potential to grow into a star at the center position and Andrew Wiggins has the potential to continue growing into an elite two-way wing in this league, but the Hornets have found a lot of success with their current young talent.
It would not make a lot of sense to blow things up and try to start over again, adding two new faces to this team, especially since they still have a chance to be the 4-seed in the Eastern Conference this season! If anything, watch in NBA trade rumors for them to be buyers.
Again, for both teams, this trade does not appear to make much sense, but let’s take a look at how this trade would impact both teams and breakdown whether or not a move like this one or similar to this one would make sense for both the Warriors and the Hornets.
