Grading the Jalen McDaniels Trade

Just a couple of hours before the trade deadline, the Charlotte Hornets agreed to a three-team deal involving the Portland Trail Blazers and Philadelphia 76ers. The deal can be seen below.

76ers get: Jalen McDaniels

Trail Blazers get: Matisse Thybulle

Hornets get: Svi Mykhailiuk, two second-round picks

Here is our staff sees this move:

Austin Leake: D 

I get that the Hornets maybe didn’t want to re-sign McDaniels this off-season, but they should’ve and could’ve got a lot more for him. McDaniels was one of the key young pieces to the team and to get what they got is quite disappointing.

Matt Alquiza: C- 

It was either re-sign PJ Washington or re-sign Jalen McDaniels this off-season and it looks like we have our answer. One of the two young players were likely going to be moved, but I thought it would be for more than two seconds and Svi Mykhailiuk. Maybe I’m overrating a hometown guy but he’s going to be a nice addition to a contending Sixers team and we may look back and regret this one if he’s playing big minutes deep into May/June.

Ian Black: B- 

Not pretty, but it’ll do. It stings to see a homegrown second rounder who has improved a ton go, but the return is fine. Would’ve maybe liked a more intriguing piece than Mykhailiuk. At the end of the day the Hornets didn’t have much leverage here with teams knowing one of McDaniels or PJ Washington wasn’t getting re-signed. One step closer to the race for Wembanyama.

Nicholas Mullick: D- 

I get the Hornets we're probably not going to re-sign him, but that's all you could get for McDaniels? Multiple 2nd round picks and Svi Mykhailiuk who is a very mediocre player. McDaniels was a very big bright spot and a player that could help any team for the future. He is a key young piece that could make any team better. How they could not get a first just boggles my mind. This is a terrible trade for the Hornets.

Eric Barnes: B- 

I don’t love it, I don’t hate it. McDaniels is a success story of 2nd round picks from Mitch Kupchak. The Hornets and McDaniels representation likely decided they were nowhere close on agreeing to a deal. McDaniels is a jack of all trades player but I believe the Hornets fan base began to overvalue him. He’s not worth a 1st rounder and at this point in the season as his 3-point percentage has dipped to 32%. I believe the Hornets are stacking assets for trades in the future when they are more competitive. They will now have a top 5 pick to go along with the 30th and 35th pick in the draft. We will see more trades in the off-season.