The deal
Charlotte Hornets get:
Bismack Biyombo
Orlando Magic get:
Jerian Grant, Timofey Mozgov
Chicago Bulls get:
Julyan Stone
Get more trade grades for every deal here
Charlotte Hornets: B
Barely 24 hours after acquiring Mozgov from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Dwight Howard, the Hornets have flipped him for a superior backup center option.
This trade brings Biyombo back to Charlotte, where he played his first three years with modest success. After an impressive season off the bench for the Toronto Raptors, Biyombo landed a four-year, $68 million contract from the Magic that immediately became one of the league's worst values.
Given the supply of cheap centers, Biyombo hasn't been any better than replacement level in Orlando. He's one of the league's worst offensive players, scoring with average efficiency in a small role and handing out just 1.6 assists per 36 minutes. At the same time, Biyombo remains an effective rim protector. The 57.0 percent opponents shot inside five feet with Biyombo as a primary defender ranked 16th among the 56 players who defended at least 250 such attempts, per Second Spectrum tracking on NBA Advanced Stats. In a better defensive culture, he should be somewhat more effective.
As I noted at the time the Howard trade was first reported, having a quality backup center is crucial for the Hornets because of Cody Zeller's injury history. They can feel more confident in Biyombo in that role than Mozgov, who has become borderline unplayable at this stage of his career.
The price for Charlotte is an extra $1 million in salary this season and $280,000 next year. For a team on the edge of the luxury tax, that's certainly meaningful. Still, Charlotte should have enough buffer to fill out the roster with a 15th player at the minimum and avoid the tax.
Orlando Magic: B
So if Biyombo is the better player and makes only slightly more money, why would the Magic make this trade?
With neither player likely to play for them this season, I think the center component was actually just a way to generate the matching salary necessary to take Grant from the Bulls. Because Orlando does not have a trade exception, the team would have been unable to take on Grant's $2.6 million salary without sending anything in return. If Chicago's goal was to wipe out Grant's money completely, taking back the likes of Khem Birch or Wesley Iwundu might have been a nonstarter, or the Magic might have preferred to hang on to those players. (Orlando chose to guarantee Birch's contract last month even after drafting Mo Bamba as a backup center, which pushed Biyombo down the depth chart.)
For a team with only D.J. Augustin on the depth chart at point guard, Grant is an interesting addition. He handed out an impressive 8.9 assists per 100 team plays last season, solidly better than the average point guard (7.6), and is a passable defender with good size for the position. If Grant can get back to the 36.6 percent he shot from 3-point range in 2016-17 rather than last year's 32.4 percent, he could be a solid backup option and a fringe starter.
It's better for the Magic to be taking chances on low-priced former first-round picks like that than sending them away, as has happened with Maurice Harkless and Shabazz Napier in the past.
Chicago Bulls: Incomplete
On the surface, this is a pretty simple salary dump for the Bulls. Grant had apparently fallen out of favor, and Chicago has two other young options at the point in starter Kris Dunn and backup Cameron Payne. So clearing the roster spot without having to swallow Grant's $2.6 million salary might have been reason enough for the Bulls to make this deal.
What's fascinating, however, is the timing of the move. Chicago has until Sunday night to officially match Sacramento's offer sheet to restricted free agent Zach LaVine, as ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Friday they plan to do.
Once the Bulls match, LaVine's cap hit will increase by nearly $10 million. So there's some urgency for Chicago to use cap space to take back a bad contract via trade between now and then. Shedding Grant's salary allows the Bulls to get up to nearly $29 million in room while retaining the rights to restricted free agent David Nwaba -- which would require waiving Stone, whose salary is non-guaranteed through August 1 -- far and away the most of any team. (For example, Chicago would be the only team capable of taking on Carmelo Anthony's $27.9 million salary without sending the Oklahoma City Thunder any salary in return.)
Could trading Grant be a precursor to something bigger? We'll find out by Sunday.