Age: 24
2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 9.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.4 blocks, 50.4 percent shooting
Advanced Stats: 12.5 PER, minus-64.47 TPA, minus-1.68 RPM
Contract Details: 2 years, $26 million (player option for 2019-20)nfl jerseys cheap authentic
Notice how Michael Kidd-Gilchrist’s stat line doesn’t have his three-point percentage? That’s by design. He attempted only two triples last season, and he missed them both.
That absence of deep-ball range torpedoes Kidd-Gilchrist’s trade value on its own. He works as an off-ball slasher and shot a stellar 46.5 percent between 10 and 16 feet over custom nfl jerseys cheap the past two seasons. But the space-obsessed NBA wants its wings to stretch the floor.
Kidd-Gilchrist doesn’t technically even have to make threes. He just needs to attempt them. Think along the lines of Marcus Smart: He’s a career 29.3 percent shooter from behind the rainbow, but he jacks more than five threes per 36 minutes. The willingness to fire away is a threat unto to itself—not as effective as customized nfl jerseys cheap clearing league-average clips would be, but a threat all the same.
Some teams would invariably talk themselves into taking a flier on Kidd-Gilchrist anyway. He’s comfortable defending positions 1 through 3 and has the body type, albeit not the track record, custom nfl jerseys to wage war with contemporary 4s.
Two years and $26 million isn’t an albatross for a diligent defender. And as the Charlotte Hornets try to figure out what they’ll do under the new regime, Kidd-Gilchrist is one of their best trade assets.
Keeping him is not out of the question. Head coach James Borrego specifically mentioned him, along with a few others, when riffing on the importance of player development, per the Charlotte Observer’s Rick Bonnell. The Hornets could have designs on making him part of their big picture, and they most certainly won’t entertain dealing him customized nfl jerseys if they’re aiming for a return to the playoffs.
All bets are off if the Hornets lean in to a reset, which they should. Kemba Walker’s $12 million salary is poised to double as a free agent next July, and they won’t enjoy legitimate spending power until 2020 at the earliest.
Dangling Kidd-Gilchrist alone won’t net Charlotte a king’s ransom. But he’s a far more enticing add-on in prospective Walker deals than Nicolas Batum (three years, $76.7 million) or Marvin Williams (two years, $29.1 million) or even Cody Zeller (three years, $43.4 million). Whereas their inclusion will be viewed as concessions by trade partners, Kidd-Gilchrist verges on an asset. Attaching him to Walker might help extract an extra pick or cost-controlled youngster in any trade.
Charlotte could prefer the financial relief of ditching more expensive salaries. But most of Walker’s suitors aren’t footing Batum’s bill, and neither Williams nor Zeller should be nfl custom jerseys cheap immovable on their own. If the Hornets initiate a much-needed teardown by flipping their best player, Kidd-Gilchrist likely will be part of the equation.