All Hornets

Charlotte's Secret In-Season Trade Chip

Expect the Hornets to remain active on the trade market this season

James Plowright

VP of Basketball Operations Jeff Peterson
VP of Basketball Operations Jeff Peterson /
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Charlotte's new regime has been active on the trade market since taking over, making five trades in the past five months. With the team continuing to prioritise future draft compensation and taking a patient approach, expect more moves in the coming season. Peterson still has one major trade chip up his sleeve which very few people know about, the "Room Exception".

The Hornets became a cap space team this past summer to absorb Jackson and Green's contracts. This meant they lost access to the full mid-level exception ($12.4M) for signing players. Instead, they now have the Room Exception ($7.9M) available for the rest of this season. Under the previous CBA, this could only be used to sign free agents. However, the new CBA allows the Room Exception to be used like a trade exception to absorb a salary.

Peterson has already demonstrated his willingness to take on negative salaries in exchange for draft compensation, as seen in the Reggie Jackson and Davis Bertans trades. If the Hornets want to continue this strategy, they could use the Room Exception to absorb a player earning up to $7.7 million. With several teams nearing the luxury tax or the first and second apron, there will be plenty of sellers at the trade deadline.

To execute a trade where they absorb a salary into the room exception, the Hornets would have to have an open roster spot. This means the Hornets might keep their final roster spot open or make a separate mid-season move, such as waiving Taj Gibson.

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James Plowright
JAMES PLOWRIGHT

Twitter: @British_Buzz Linked In: James Plowright Muck Rack: James Plowright About Me Bylines for: Sports Illustrated, Sky Sports NBA, SB Nation, Queen City Hoops Based in Manchester in the United Kingdom, I have covered the Charlotte Hornets since 2008. When I was 16 years old I won a blogging competition on Bobcats.com, this ignited my passion for journalism and since then I went on to write for a variety of blogs; Hornets Planet, Queen City Hoops and At The Hive. In 2022 I took on the role as site content manager for the Charlotte Hornets Fannation site (AllHornets.com).  I am also the founder of the All Hornets Podcast Network, having recorded over 350+ Hornets related podcasts.  Awards - The All Hornets podcast was nominated for "Best Team Podcast" in the 2022 Sports Podcast Awards.  - I was nominated for "Sports Writer of the Year" in 2013 for LSU Media while studying my B.A in History and International Relations at Loughborough University. 

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