The Charlotte Hornets had a chance to swing the table and prove to Kemba Walker they're capable of acquiring talent by trading for Marc Gasol. Yet when a potential deal slipped from their grip, the Hornets star was deflated to see he would no longer be getting help to chase a spot in the postseason.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski detailed the incident in The Woj Pod:
“I got the sense in talking to people, that trade deadline really deflated him,” Wojnarowski said of Walker. “When they were pretty close on a Marc Gasol deal, and it fell apart. It didn’t happen. He goes to Toronto. And he looks around and goes, “Come on, what are we trying to do here?”
The Hornets had a deal in place that would bring in Gasol for Bismack Biyombo, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and a protected first-round pick. The only thing keeping the deal from happening was reportedly the specifics of the pick protection.
While this mishap doesn't ensure that Walker will leave the Hornets this offseason, it surely doesn't build a great case for the Hornets, who have been elbows deep in bad contracts and have shown no indications of turning this roster around.
The Bronx native is known to love The Queen City, and he did it proud by fighting through every last game to try to earn a postseason spot, but it ultimately proved too much to do in his lonesome.
Walker had spearheaded the charge of a four-game win streak before a season-ending loss to the Orlando Magic, one that was dependent in a New York Knicks win over the Detroit Pistons to muster the eighth spot in the East.
As fate would have it, neither would happen — and now the Hornets have nothing besides an extra one year and $43 million to make Walker stay once his contract is up.
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