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There has been some speculation that the Charlotte Hornets have an interest in acquiring Zion Williamson from the New Orleans Pelicans, and Marc Stein evaluated whether the Hornets would be willing to give up the No. 2 pick to get the deal done in his newsletter.
Despite prior rumored interest in Zion Williamson, the Hornets would likely reject a trade that sends the No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft to the Pelicans, according to league observer, Marc Stein said.
“Would Charlotte, for all of Williamson's offensive prowess and box-office appeal, really be willing to surrender the No. 2 overall pick for a player who has had so much trouble staying on the floor?” Stein wrote. “That question was posed to me Tuesday by a second league observer who predicted that the Hornets would reject such overtures.”
Some have made the connection between Michael Jordan and the fact that Williamson is a Jordan Brand athlete, and the fact that Michael Jordan has not sold the team yet. However, it still seems unlikely.
“The Hornets, for what it's worth, are still owned by Michael Jordan — he hasn’t sold the team yet,” Stein wrote. “And Williamson is indeed a Jordan Brand athlete. But those connections can’t diminish the risk that the Hornets would be taking to part with such a prized draft asset to take on Williamson's monster contract after he has missed 194 of a possible 308 regular-season games. Williamson is about to begin Year 1 of a five-year, $194.3 million contract extension that he agreed to last summer.”
It will be interesting to see if Williamson gets traded this summer, and what the compensation would be. However, it does not seem the No. 2 pick in the draft would be involved.
