Mock Trade: Hornets Move Down in the Draft, Grizzlies Move Up

Charlotte and Memphis could become trade partners on draft night. We detail why.

Over the course of the next few weeks, we'll throw together some mock trades that make sense for the Charlotte Hornets. Today, we begin with a draft night trade that has Charlotte trading back in the first round.

HORNETS RECEIVE:

PF Santi Aldama

2024 1st round pick (9th overall)

2024 2nd round pick (39th overall)

GRIZZLIES RECEIVE:

2024 1st round pick (6th overall)

WHY IT WORKS:

The Grizzlies may be interested in moving up for UConn center Donovan Clingan. This trade could still be a possibility if he's not there, but primarily if Clingan is still on the board.

Charlotte feels really good about where Mark Williams is at in his development and appear to be confident in his health after missing a good chunk of the season with a back injury. The Hornets could draft Clingan for insurance or possibly to form a frontcourt similar to how Minnesota did with Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns, on a lesser scale. Clearly, that's not a fair comparison player-wise. It's more of the approach to how they could attempt to build this team with two true centers. But ideally, the Hornets would trade back while other teams bid for that No. 6 pick to go up and get Clingan.

Trading back makes a ton of sense for Charlotte because they don't really need to add another top half of the lottery pick to a roster that is in desperate need of experience. Acquiring Santi Aldama, although not the flashiest of moves, gets the job done. He has three years of service in the league and is coming off his best season yet, averaging 10.8 points and 5.8 rebounds in 61 games with Memphis. Although he's primarily played the four, he can be utilized as a five as well. For his career, he's made 206-of-618 three-point attempts which is good for 33% - pretty good numbers for a big.

Not to mention, with this draft, the ninth overall pick could have just as high of a ceiling as the first pick.

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