ESPN is reporting that the Charlotte Hornets have traded Johnny O'Bryant and a pair of second-round picks for 23-year-old center Willy Hernangomez of the New York Knicks. I like the trade a lot.
For whatever reason, it appeared something became personal between the Knicks and Hernangomez, leading to the trade. Also kind of telling that the Knicks traded him after losing star post player Kristaps Porzingis for the season with an ACL tear. Hernangomez and Porzingis played for the same pro team in Europe.
Why I like the trade is that the Knicks played Hernangomez after the all-star break last year, and he averaged 11.5 points and 9.2 rebounds in 24.2 minutes per game in 23 contests. Conventional wisdom was that he'd be part of the Knicks nucleus moving forward, and then he collected dust on the bench to start the season. There was eight games in November and December where he didn't even play.
For whatever reason, it appeared something became personal between the Knicks and Hernangomez, leading to the trade. Also kind of telling that the Knicks traded him after losing star post player Kristaps Porzingis for the season with an ACL tear. Hernangomez and Porzingis played for the same pro team in Europe.
Why I like the trade is that the Knicks played Hernangomez after the all-star break last year, and he averaged 11.5 points and 9.2 rebounds in 24.2 minutes per game in 23 contests. Conventional wisdom was that he'd be part of the Knicks nucleus moving forward, and then he collected dust on the bench to start the season. There was eight games in November and December where he didn't even play.
