The Charlotte Hornets acquired Miles Plumlee from the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Spencer Hawes and Roy Hibbert in a three-center trade three weeks ahead of the deadline. Milwaukee also waived Steve Novak to open the roster spot necessary to bring in both new players.

Charlotte had expressed interest in Plumlee as recently as this past summer when he was a restricted free agent. The Hornets didn’t have the cap space to sign Plumlee at the time, once Milwaukee made it clear they would go over the $10 million mark annually to keep their big man. Charlotte moved to an interim option in Hibbert on a one-year deal, to go along with Hawes and rotation mainstays Cody Zeller and Frank Kaminsky.

Both Hawes and Hibbert have alternated between being in and out of the rotation, with both garnering the occasional spot start. This is much the same as the player they just acquired in Plumlee, who wasn’t a consistent presence in the Milwaukee lineup. Back in 2014, on a Suns squad that made a surprising playoff push, Plumlee looked like he was developing into a quality rotation player. He was excellent playing off the dual point guard attack of Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe and made his bones by diving to the rim on offense and hitting the glass on defense.

Plumlee has struggled since joining the Bucks. Without quality guards to get him the ball in scoring positions, he’s been unable to have any sort of offensive impact. Charlotte believes they can get Plumlee back to the way he played in Phoenix. They think he’ll work well behind Zeller, with shooters spacing the floor on the second unit and he can just run the floor and play near the rim. 

Charlotte didn’t give up much to take a flyer on Plumlee, as Hawes and Hibbert weren’t parts of the future for the Hornets. The challenge is that Plumlee is still owed $37.5 million over the next three seasons after this one, an annual salary of $12.5 million through 19-20. For a player who has averaged less than three points and two rebounds this season, that is a hefty investment.

Grade for Charlotte: D-

Milwaukee acquired Plumlee in the big trade deadline day deal of 2015, which saw Brandon Knight go to Phoenix, Michael Carter-Williams come to Milwaukee and a future conditional first round pick go to Philadelphia. In retrospect that trade seems to have only worked out for Philadelphia and they don’t even know when they’ll get that pick, as the Lakers need to finish outside the top-3 for that pick to convey this year. 

The Bucks seem to make some mistakes by committing to the wrong players, but they are willing to admit them and move on when the opportunity presents itself. Carter-Williams didn’t work out, so he was traded to Chicago for Tony Snell, who has played well in Milwaukee. Plumlee performed well initially, but was given far too large of a contract and the Bucks did well to get out from underneath it. 

Hawes and Hibbert could help Milwaukee on the floor this season. Hawes gives them some ability to space the floor at the 5, which they haven’t had. Hibbert can provide some rim protection, which has been missing most of the year. But they’ll both probably slot in behind Greg Monroe and John Henson, and possibly Thon Maker, in the rotation to start off with. Rumors are that Milwaukee is exploring dealing Monroe and/or Henson for wing help, so Hawes and Hibbert could be called upon more than expected.

But this trade wasn’t really about this year and what Hawes and Hibbert can give the Bucks on the court. It was about clearing the long term money owed to Plumlee and moving on from that mistake. The Bucks like Snell quite a bit and would like to re-sign him. For a roster that is starting to get expensive, with an extension for Giannis Antetokounmpo kicking in next year and one due soon for Jabari Parker, Milwaukee had to free up some cap flexibility. Dealing Plumlee was the first step and it was a good one.

Grade for Milwaukee: A