Should the Charlotte Hornets Consider Keeping Ryan Nembhard on the Roster?

A late September trade is cat nip for people like me (and you, fellow sicko, if you are reading this). The perfect dopamine hit to get the basketball neurons in my brain firing before the preseason ramps up in earnest next week.

On Tuesday afternoon the Charlotte Hornets traded veteran forward Dorian Finney-Smith to the Atlanta Hawks for Buddy Hield, Ryan Nembhard, and some cold hard cash. In totality, this move boils down to Jeff Peterson doing DFS, a player he has a longstanding relationship with, and Atlanta, an organization he used to work for, a solid.

The trade solves the Hawks' roster crunch, gives Quinn Snyder a versatile front court option to fill in for Mo Gueye while he recovers from offseason foot surgery, and allows Finney-Smith the opportunity to earn minutes on a competitive team; something that wasn't going to happen in Charlotte.

Relationships in the NBA matter, and this transaction strengthens a few important ones for Jeff Peterson.

Although this transaction simply boils down to back-of-the-napkin math for Charlotte and bottom-of-the-roster depth for Atlanta, there is some intrigue in the two players the Hornets acquired.

Buddy Hield, 33, is one of the league's premier three-point marksmen. He doesn't offer many ancillary skills at this point in his career, but he can still shoot the lights out.

He's a proven quanitity, though. What you see is what you get.

The other player Charlotte acquired, Ryan Nembhard, is more of a mystery, and someone the Hornets could consider keeping around despite reports about their plans to waive him.

What Can Ryan Nembhard Bring to the Hornets?

To be clear: Nembhard is far from a slam dunk rotation piece at this juncture. The 23-year-old lead guard has already been traded twice this offseason which says more about what the league thinks about him than anything analysts like myself can pen.

Nevertheless, his playmaking ability is among the best in the league, and a trait worth investing in.

Nembhard is an accurate passer with a deep bag of creative ways to get his teammates the ball. Lob passes, pocket passes, skip passes; he can throw all of them with borderline elite precision. He doesn't have the manipulative passing trait that elite playmakers like LaMelo Ball or Trae Young possess, but Nembhard is great at just taking what the defense gives him when looking to feed his teammates.

The numbers bear this out. According to nbarapm.com, Nembard averaged 5.0 rim and three-point assists per 100 possessions in his rookie season. He is awfully skilled at creating the most efficient shots in the game.

But...that's all Nembhard really does at a high level.

The undersized point guard was one of the worst scorers in the league last season. He posted a well below average true shooting percentage, three-point shooting percentage, two-point shooting percentage, etc., on low usage. If there is a number to measure scoring efficiency, Nembhard didn't have a great one.

His defensive numbers tell a similar story. Nembhard's size will always be a limiting factor on the defensive end of the floor, and the Hornets just don't have the requisite personnel to make up for his deficiencies at this point.

Charlotte has to cut three players before the season starts. As it stands, Nembhard, Hield, and Pat Connaughton are the most likley casulaties. If the Hornets decide to keep Nembhard on the roster, who then gets cut?

Tidjane Salaun? It doesn't seem like the Hornets are ready to bail on that project quite yet. Royce O'Neale or Grayson Allen? The PR for those two has been too glowing since they were acquired for that to be a realistic option, and they are straight up better basketball players than Nembhard is right now.

Unfortunately for Nembhard, the math just isn't in his favor. If Charlotte hadn't drafted Christian Anderson Jr. and were still in need of a third point guard, he would have a clearer path to sticking around.

According to a number of NBA insiders, though, the second-year guard won't be short on options if he does get waived by the Hornets. Good teams always need steady ball handlers to run offense for stretches, and if nothing else, that is exactly who Nembhard is.

It won't be in Charlotte, but Nembhard does have a future in the league.

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