In a vacuum, the New York Knicks’ perplexing deal sending Willy Hernangomez to the Charlotte Hornets isn’t all that surprising. The recent trade demand for the 23-year-old all but guaranteed he would be heavily shopped before the Feb. 8 deadline.

But the expected nature of the move didn’t temper the questions that popped up along the way. Most notably: Why the Charlotte Hornets? 

The Trade

• New York Knicks Receive: Patrick O’Bryant and the Hornets 2020 and 2021 second-round picks
• Charlotte Hornets Receive: Willy Hernangomez

Let’s quickly recap what led Hernangomez to request out of New York. During the summer, advertisements pegged Kristaps Porzingis, Frank Ntilikina and Hernangomez as the future and core of the team. The exclusion of Carmelo Anthony served as one of many warning signs that he would be moved. Regardless, the promotion led us to believe that the trio would be the new focus of the organization as it stepped forward into the future.

That didn’t happen.

As we know, the Knicks acquired Enes Kanter, putting a large roadblock in the way for Hernangomez. Kanter’s enthusiasm and immediate offensive impact forced head coach Jeff Hornacek to give him a large role in the rotation. Kyle O’Quinn built off his impressive 2016-17 season with efficient scoring and enough defensive energy to justify playing him at backup. With Porzingis scooping up the remaining minutes at center, Hernangomez was all but strapped to the bench.

But if you failed to watch the Knicks this year, you may be questioning why a youth movement during the preseason seemed to be taking a backseat to playing veterans who weren’t signed long-term (LOL JUST KIDDING THEY HAVE JOAKIM NOAH FOR TWO MORE YEARS). The answer lies in the Knicks’ quick start—and the accompanying playoff aspirations—discoloring the truth of what kind of squad they were. It gave the impression they were going to be a team duking it out for one of the bottom seeds in the playoffs instead of mired in another lost season.

Well, the Knicks stand at 23-36 with their best player slated to miss the next year after suffering a torn ACL. Assessing them as likely to tank would be an understatement, meaning they would be smart to lean on younger players to get a better idea of where they fit into the long-term planning of the team. Instead, after receiving clarification of whether they should be buyers or sellers at the deadline, they move the second-year center who is signed for two additional years at a total cost of $3.05 million.

Knicks fans have been ingrained with memories of so many horrific transactions that it’d be hard to criticize them for being skeptical of a front office. The Scott Perry/Steve Mills combination has been fine so far, but it’s been hard to get a true sense of their vision. A deal like this doesn’t help that cause, mostly because of two big factors: timing and minute allocation.

The trade deadline was not a necessary endpoint in a quest to move Hernangomez.

They openly spoke about wanting to cut out the center depth, which is fine. But they should have searched harder to send out O’Quinn (my many attempts to get him to Milwaukee would have been interesting) and are now likely to lose him this summer for nothing. Dealing big men is tough in this market, so looking for a true asset in return for O’Quinn shouldn’t have been the draw; that should have been the availability of minutes to play the young prospect who was cost controlled for two more seasons. Missing out on the knowledge of how good Hernangomez can be (which is a question I’ll delve into in a bit) when his numbers elicited excitement is poor asset management by a team in the midst of a rebuild.

Hernangomez played a total of 233 minutes this season in the 55 games he wore a Knicks uniform. He is the first player to log that little run after making the NBA’s All-Rookie First Team since Jorge Garbajosa in 2007, who played in a total of seven games the year after and never earned another NBA minute. Judging the big man’s development during sporadic minutes is unfair, especially when you realize he only played one game this season of over 20 minutes. He hit that mark a total of 31 times during his rookie campaign.

The question Twitter had to grapple with after the trade? How does the Hornets’ roster construction make any more sense than the Knicks’ efforts?

The Hornets currently have Dwight Howard and Cody Zeller on the roster, along with the 7’0″ Frank Kaminsky. Considering Zeller is officially back from his injury, barely any minutes are available for Hernangomez (he still hasn’t played a single one for his new team). That makes his situation very similar to the one he faced in New York. He is stuck behind a center currently under contract for one more season, as well as another backup likely to see heavy minutes at the position for the foreseeable future.

Charlotte head coach Steve Clifford will likely explore pairing Hernangomez with Zeller a bit. One of them learning to space the floor a bit more would help ease this process, but Hernangomez may be able to make the fit more palatable with his passing. He’s smart enough to take advantage of tight spaces and found narrow windows to dish off to Porzingis when defenders came over to help on drives to the basket. That could theoretically be an option, albeit not an ideal one for the team moving forward.

The Hornets took a chance in remaking a younger, cheaper version of the Al Jefferson years. Hernangomez may end up being able to provide enough juice on second units to help bridge the divide between a functional offense and a complete albatross. But gauging whether that price was worthy of two second-round picks is murky, especially when the path for that player to get substantial minutes is a tough one. At best, this is questionable decision-making.

Luckily, Charlotte has plenty of time to take advantage of his talents, even if they aren’t fully maximized this season.

It’s tough to pinpoint Hernangomez’s ceiling. In theory, paying two second-round picks for a backup center is bad business, but the Hornets’ acquisition does help infuse some youth in the frontcourt at a good price. He is what you hope to get out of a second-round selection! So why does the value feel a bit steep?

That generally comes down to where you fall on Hernangomez’s potential. A lot of analysis has revolved around his likeness to Kanter: a bully on the block who has natural touch around the basket.

He can take advantage of post-up opportunities by using either hand. This is where that natural touch comes into play, as he shoulders off Kevon Looney to flick up a hook-shot with his non-dominant paw.

When watching Hernangomez, you get the impression he excels at this aspect of the game, but the numbers don’t necessarily bear that out. In his incredibly small sample size this year, he’s clocked in at a ghastly 0.43 points per possession mark on post-ups. Last year’s figure of 0.67 doesn’t do much to ease the mind.

A lot of the misses come with confidence in his natural movement. They happen off a shoulder bump, and he’s able to get enough rise and separation on most of his looks that they tend to appear good. The sample size here is still small enough to justify the belief that he’ll get better in this area as times goes on. 

Luckily, he owns more than just a post-up game.

He’s learned to take advantage of the pick-and-roll, where he developed a connection with a couple of the Knicks’ guards. He’s not a rim-roller who’ll go up top for alley-oops, but his hands are soft enough to secure tough passes, and his dribbling tight enough to maneuver around defenders. He knows when to properly set screens versus slipping them, an indication of a high basketball IQ. It’s helped him rank in the top third on the play type over his first two seasons.

It’s on the defensive end of the floor where the Hernangomez evaluation gets a bit tricky. In this era of the NBA, playing a center who isn’t a strong defender for heavy minutes makes for a shaky proposition. That makes it tough to project this young 5 as anything but a solid backup unless he’s able to protect the basket.

Marc Gasol is the ideal version of what you’d be hoping for in a talent like Hernangomez—the striking post presence who understands the nuances of the game and can pass out of double teams to open cutters. Gasol didn’t develop a three-point shot until recently, and he generally made his mark in the high post in Memphis. Hernangomez has a decent jump shot, but nowhere near as prolific as Gasol’s.

The key distinction is size. Hernangomez doesn’t profile as a possible defensive MVP force who can defend the paint and run the communication with his fellow defenders. He reaches only 6’10″ and doesn’t bring the sheer body size of Gasol. His limited athleticism makes it unlikely he ever reaches that point, though he doesn’t exactly fit in the “plodder” category, either. He just doesn’t have the foot speed to match up on switches or the length to make up for that deficiency.

Being placed in Clifford’s defensive system should help a bit. Hernangomez has proved a reliable rebounder with a career 26.2 defensive rebounding percentage, and the Hornets have built a reputation for grabbing boards, getting back in transition and limiting turnovers. As zealous and skilled a passer as he is, he’ll have to limit coughing the ball up at such a high rate .

But back to the Knicks. Given how draft picks were valued during this deadline (and over the past couple seasons) this is an impressive haul for New York. The two selections come on the heels of Kemba Walker’s free agency, and the Hornets will still be facing the contracts of Nicolas Batum, Marvin Williams, Cody Zeller and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist taking up over $68 million in cap space for the 2019-20 season. That doesn’t include the future contracts of Walker and Kaminsky.

At the end of the day, you can understand both teams’ thought processes in this agreement. But when you take into consideration the razor-thin job security of Rich Cho and the constant dysfunction of the Knicks franchise, it’s hard to shake the feeling that each organization’s shadow is looming large over the trade.

A notoriously inept team rotting a potential talent on the bench and then moving him after he is forced to demand a trade? That doesn’t look good.

Dealing for a position that comes with baggage in the NBA while already owning a host of centers yourself? Dinosaur-like.

Of course, caveats to this granular critique do exist. The age of Hernangomez and his untapped potential could swing things dramatically in the Hornets’ favor, especially if they stay relevant. Charlotte could flounder with aging mediocrity and shoot to the bottom of the standings, giving the Knicks valuable draft assets.

It always takes time to judge these kinds of trades, but we got to see the worst in each franchise. Now it’s up to a host of second-round picks to prove each party right.

Follow Thomas on Twitter @Trende19.

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