Rumors are spreading that the Charlotte Hornets may trade for Domantas Sabonis. There are reports that the two sides have had preliminary talks about Sabonis and Miles Bridges, but so far, nothing is imminent or even likely.
Still, where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire, so we can assume that the Hornets do have some interest in the three-time All-Star who has led the NBA in rebounding three times. Would he even be a good addition, though?
Pros for a Domantas Sabonis trade
Trading Miles Bridges for Domantas Sabonis would be a good thing. Bridges was not good last year, and while he’s not terribly expensive, the Hornets should’ve moved on from him for off-court reasons long ago.
The Hornets’ system is all about getting rebounds, which Sabonis excels at. His 19.1% rebound percentage would’ve led the Hornets by a fair margin. His defensive rebound percentage of 28.1% would’ve led as well, so with him and Moussa Diabaté on the floor, the Hornets would dominate the glass.
Cons for Hornets adding Domantas Sabonis
Unfortunately, the list of cons is much lengthier and more devastating. Sabonis was an absolute turnstile on defense last year. His 123.9 defensive rating is abysmal, and it would’ve ranked dead last on the Hornets by a huge margin.
Sadly, his offensive prowess wasn’t good, either. He had an 110.0 offensive rating, which led to a -13.9 net rating. Those are ugly numbers, and while being on the Kings doesn’t help, the Hornets can’t justifiably spend a lot of assets on someone who was flat-out bad.
And for a big man, his shooting numbers were bad, too. Sabonis had an effective field goal percentage of 55.4% and a true shooting mark of 59.0%, and he wasn’t really shooting from distance to lower those marks much.
Sabonis is also a major financial investment. His cap hit is $45.4 million this coming season and $48.6 million after that. That’s an astonishing mark, and at this stage, he’s not remotely worth that. Combine that with the draft capital necessary to acquire an All-Star player, and the Hornets would be taking a huge loss in this deal.
Verdict
If the Hornets can trade matching salaries and get rid of Miles Bridges and maybe Tre Mann and nothing else, this might be a solid deal. Domantas Sabonis would be better in Charlotte than Sacramento, but we can’t pretend like he’s definitely a good player anymore. The numbers say otherwise.
That’s not going to happen. Reports suggest that Sacramento wants one of the Hornets’ first-round picks this year, and Charlotte is refusing to add those to a potential deal. That’s good, because a first-rounder and multiple players to get Sabonis would not be wise.
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