Hornets send No. 6 to Atlanta Hawks

As we get closer to draft night, we continue to look at mock trade ideas that could involve the Charlotte Hornets moving up or down the draft board. The latest trade idea proposed by James Plowright and Chase Whitney involves the Hornets dropping eight spots, giving up the sixth pick in the draft and Dāvis Bertāns.

HORNETS RECEIVE:

-G DeAndre Hunter

-FAJ Griffin

THE FALCONS RECEIVE:

-Davis Bertāns

-Cody Martin

– 6th overall pick

WHY IT WORKS

The Hornets need to find a way to unload Bertans and this is one way to do it. Charlotte would love to have his shooting ability, but he’s a one-trick pony who doesn’t offer much else. The Hawks would likely give up Bertans in this scenario, but they have another chance to draft a top player in this year’s draft at No. 6, in addition to a very solid defenseman, Cody Martin, to help in the early stages of reconstruction.

Charlotte benefits from an offensive upgrade in Hunter, who averaged 14.3 points per game over his first five years in the NBA. He’s shooting 36% from three and shoots threes at a much higher volume than Martin who is at 31% for his career. As for Griffin, he’s a former first-round pick who had a pretty solid rookie campaign averaging nearly nine points, two rebounds and 15 minutes per game before falling out of Atlanta’s rotation. There’s still a lot of potential there and it’s probably worth taking a chance on any player who becomes available at his No. 6 position.

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