I don’t mean to speak for the masses, but it’s safe to say that the last few weeks of Charlotte Hornets basketball have not been overly compelling.

Naturally, that shifts the discourse surrounding the team towards the long-term rather than analyzing the product on a night-to-night basis. A team being 7-19 in late December with its best player injured and a host of others battling through pain just to keep things afloat will do that. If this were the first year of never-ending bad luck, it’d be one thing. Sadly, it’s not. With the head coach and general manager on expiring contracts and new ownership putting its fingerprints on the organization, it can be difficult not to zone out of the current on-court product in anticipation of sweeping changes.

When changes are made to the roster, the new owners will probably want those decisions to be made by an individual they chose to lead the front office. That hasn’t happened yet, though. At the earliest, it’ll happen once the trade deadline approaches, and it could wait until the summer. If the Hornets do happen to get a new regime in place by February, at least in part, maybe the deck will get shuffled sooner than later.

The Hornets have a prime opportunity over the next month-and-a-half to capitalize on assets that are due to depreciate or disappear entirely.

On an expiring $31.5M contract, Gordon Hayward is averaging the second-most assists (4.7) of his career and has scored 18 points per game on 57/44/79 splits in his last eight games. Terry Rozier is averaging career-highs of 23.2 points and 7.1 assists on 46/36/88 shooting splits, displaying newfound reliability as a lead playmaker. PJ Washington and Nick Richards are on long-term, team-friendly contracts for a couple of surefire rotation players. James Bouknight and Cody Martin can easily be used for salary-matching purposes, and Charlotte owns all of its future first-round picks beyond the upcoming draft. There’s value to be had if the front office is willing to admit defeat in some way and part with the home-grown talent that no longer fits with the team.

To me, there are two untouchables on the roster; LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller. Mark Williams is close, but a rim-running center should never be totally untouchable in today’s game in my opinion. Many will disagree with this, but Rozier is the only Hornet that joins Williams in that distinction for me.

Rozier has done everything the Hornets have asked and more since he arrived in 2019. He morphed into a premier off-ball movement shooting threat early in his tenure, then into a secondary shot creator, and now a lead initiator and primary point-of-attack defender. It’s also clear that he’s the emotional leader of the team, and he’s one of the most prominent athlete voices within the Charlotte community.

There’s value in what he brings beyond on-court production — which has been at a high-level this season — and a $24.9M AAV three-year deal, that now seems to lean more towards team-friendly than player-friendly given future salary cap projections. Twenty five million just ain’t what it used to be in the NBA.

Apart from that, every player should be available in the right trade (and I’d imagine they would be under new leadership). For some, it’s because they have little value to the Hornets, and for others it’s because they actually do have value to the Hornets. Thus, they are appealing targets for other teams. After all, you can’t make “big changes” and not actually make big changes. Roster turnover is a necessary step for a shift in organizational culture and identity.

Clearly, given that I’ve already written eight paragraphs on the idea, a massive undertaking of the current roster has been on my mind recently as we slog through repeated double-digit losses. How exactly would said undertaking be undertaken? Well, that’s what this newfangled typewriting machine is for. Let’s take it step by step.

Step one: new home for bridges and a second unit shakeup

This deal is made on the following premise; Bridges is a.) unreliable given his current outstanding court case that won’t be resolved until February at the earliest, and b.) one of the few players on the roster good enough to fetch value in return. The no-trade clause and loss of Bird Rights for any team acquiring him is a turn-off. But, if Bridges wants to go back to Michigan and the Pistons plan to offer him a contract this summer anyway, it could be worth it.

Stewart replacing Richards gives the Hornets a different look at backup center at a similar price tag. I’m a believer in avoiding archetypical overlap in roster construction, especially at center. That’s what Hornets have now with two non-shooting, non-playmaking, rim-rolling 7-footers. Beef Stew offers spacing, physicality, toughness and a great nickname at the five, along with some switch ability and the offensive skillset to play the four in certain lineups.

Pritchard offers spacing, physicality and toughness, but at guard. It also puts an jam in the revolving door at backup point guard ever since Devonte’ Graham was traded and pushes Ish Smith into bench leadership role. The skinny; a long-term backup for LaMelo at a low salary that plays with pace, has a nose for the ball and shoots from range.

To me, it’s worth giving up the draft assets when framing it like this; the 2030 lottery-protected pick will be unlikely to convey if things go south and LaMelo, Miller, Williams, etc. aren’t on the team anymore. If they are, and the team is good with them all in their prime, the pick is worth giving up. Charlotte also has two 2027 second-round picks right now. Giving one up doesn’t deplete draft assets in that year.

Jaden Ivey is obviously the big get here. The fifth overall pick in the 2022 Draft seems to be falling out of favor in Detroit, and would be a great foil to LaMelo with his downhill athleticism, finishing and secondary playmaking. His driving ability would take pressure off LaMelo to continue improving in that area and allow him to shift back towards spacing the floor with volume. Ivey has potential to become a plus defender with reasonable size for his position, is only 21 years old and his rookie deal runs through 2025-26. This move preserves cap space for other big-money acquisitions and spreads talent across the positional spectrum, on top of giving LaMelo a long-term running mate at guard, wing and big with Ivey, Miller and Williams.

Step Two: Give hayward a shot at the playoffs and solve a problem for golden state

Andrew Wiggins to Hayward is a massive upgrade for Golden State right now. Wiggins is averaging career-lows in points, assists, steals, and blocks, is shooting a career-low from 3-point land, and still has three years left on his current contract including a player option for 2026-27. On the bright sight, he still rebounds and defends wings on-ball at a relatively high level, something Hornets need badly from the three and four positions.

Jonathan Kuminga is the sweetener that balances out the 2027 lottery protected first-rounder. Essentially the Warriors’ eighth man right now, but Hayward would eat up a portion of those minutes and what they really need off the bench is a center, not another forward. Golden State still has Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody, and Trayce Jackson-Davis, plus JT Thor as a throw-in. The Hornets might only need to include two seconds in this trade to get it done with Wiggins’ recent poor play and long-term contract. I’d rather give up too much than too little, though.

There are many ways to offload Hayward and get positive assets in return; Charlotte could trade him back to Utah with an asset or two for John Collins, or along with Richards/draft picks for Lauri Markkanen and Kelly Olynyk. Miami for Kyle Lowry, or the Clippers for a draft pick and salary filler are also intriguing possibilities. If there’s not an extension agreement already in place between the Hornets and Hayward’s camp that hovers around the Mid-Level Exception, the front office should be looking to trade him regardless of who is in charge. Capitalize on the expiring contract or extend him — do not let that $30M contract slot go by the wayside.

Step three: hornets shift into slow-mo

Compounded with the previous two trades, this might be my favorite. PJ is another one of the few players the Hornets can trade and receive positive assets in return without attaching picks or young players. In this case, I think PJ’s low-cost, long-term deal is worth losing both Anderson and Milton for the West-leading Timberwolves, plus Bouknight (who is set to hit unrestricted free agency this summer) to match salary. Minnesota essentially replaces its seventh and ninth man with a quality rotation piece that fits like a glove beside any of Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert, and Naz Reid.

“Slo Mo” is a fun fit with LaMelo. Anderson play on or off-ball and defend forwards with Bridges, Washington and Thor now gone. His value might also be taking a dip since he’s shot 2-19 from three this season, which the Hornets could leverage. Shake Milton and Pritchard turn guard depth from a weakness to a significant strength of the roster and could easily be moved this summer if necessary with salaries well below the Mid-Level. There’s very little commitment involved for the Hornets here with the chance to get some seasoned veterans in the building.

Step four: profit

In totality, these moves would leave the Hornets with a depth chart something like this:

G: LaMelo Ball, Payton Pritchard, Ish Smith, Amari Bailey (TW)

G: Jaden Ivey, Terry Rozier, Shake Milton, Nick Smith Jr., Frank Ntilikina

F: Brandon Miller, Andrew Wiggins, Bryce McGowens, Leaky Black (TW)

F: Kyle Anderson, Jonathan Kuminga

C: Mark Williams, Isaiah Stewart, Nathan Mensah (TW)

It’s a bit thin in the frontcourt, but Anderson, Kuminga, Stewart and Williams are capable of eating up the lion’s share of the minutes. Wiggins can also play up in smaller, quicker lineups, and Nathan Mensah has been serviceable thus far. Frank Ntilikina could also be waived and replaced with a big man with little cap penalty.

Having Stewart, Anderson and Kuminga also gives Steve Clifford the option to play a five-out lineup without sacrificing size, rebounding and versatility. Plus, unless the Hornets rip off some 10-game win streak, anything better than a bottom-seed Play-In berth is a pipe dream. Going into the summer with a pair of franchise cornerstones, a refreshed supporting cast and a couple of clear areas for improvement isn’t the worst situation to be in.

It’s not entirely plausible to bring in seven new players at the trade deadline and force the coaching staff and remaining players to make such a significant adjustment on the fly mid-season. But that’s why we’re making posts on the internet instead of phoning in trade calls to the NBA league office. However, it’s also not plausible to run it back once again with largely the same group of players after three sub.-500 seasons in the last four years. A happy medium can certainly be found.

Sweeping changes within the Hornets organization are afoot. At this point, it’s just a matter of when, not if. Why not kickstart the makeover now?