Charlotte Hornets Aggressive in Trade Talks After Bad Start, Lance Stephenson On The Block

The Charlotte Hornets were pegged as one of the promising teams in the Eastern Conference before the start of the 2014-2015 NBA season but the Michael Jordan-owned team has struggled off the gates winning just four of 18 games played so far this season. As with any playoff contender which has a subpar performance, talks of a probable trade to try to arrest the skid are all but normal.

NBA expert Zach Lowe of grantland.com, a respected sports and pop culture website, reported on Monday that indeed the Hornets are “agressive making trade calls” as per the writer’s multiple sources.

“The Hornets are searching for upgrades on the wing and at power forward, per those sources, and they are willing to talk turkey on basically anyone other than Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson,” Lowe wrote. “Free agents signed this past offseason can’t be traded until December 15, and few would be surprised if the Hornets make and take calls on Lance Stephenson ahead of that trigger date.”

There has been some friction between the volatile Stephenson and head coach Steve Clifford in their first year together.

“He’s not a star. He’s a guy that has talent to become a star. To be a star in this league, you have to do it over years,” Clifford told ESPN.COM amidst one of the Hornets’ losing streaks earlier this season.

“As many similarities as there are [between what the Pacers did and what the Hornets do] defensively, there are things that are different offensively,” the Hornets head coach shared to NBC Sports right around the first week of the season. “That’ll take some time, and plus, he’s not close to being in rhythm with his game. He missed a lot of time in preseason [due to a groin injury].”

Nicknamed “Born Ready”, Stephenson has not been that in his new role with the Charlotte squad. In 18 games, Stephenson has averaged 9.6 points on 36.7% field goal shooting per game so far this season— down from his career-highs of 13.8 points per game on 49.1% FG shooting in his last year with the Indiana Pacers.

Stephenson signed a three-year deal worth $27.4 million with the Hornets in the 2014 offseason— a friendly contract that’s easy to trade if Charlotte chooses to do so. While Stephenson may be on the trading block, the Hornets have other players that may attract a few NBA teams. Swingman Gerald Henderson, big men Cody Zeller, Bismack Biyombo and Noah Vonleh all have value and teams may be interested in their potential.