Will Matt Barnes stay put or move on?
After acquiring Matt Barnes together with Spencer Hawes from the Los Angeles Clippers for Lance Stephenson, it remains to be seen if the Charlotte Hornets would keep the 35-year-old small forward heading into the 2015-16 NBA season.
Barnes has $3.5 million left on his contract and initial reports suggest that the Hornets will likely buy out Barnes.
At 35, Barnes isn't exactly someone that the Hornets may be looking for as they rebuild their squad. Though Barnes has made a good account of himself as a scorer coming off the bench but the Hornet are likely looking for someone cheaper if not younger heading into next season.
In the coming 2015 NBA Draft, the Hornets will be selecting 9th overall and have a good chance to pick up a quality rookie.
Among the frosh they could consider picking up from the draft include Stanley Johnson, Willie Cauley-Stein and Sam Dekker, players who can infuse new blood and help the cause of the club.
Aside from that, there is the coming NBA free agency market set for July. Though there are a lot of big names testing the market, there are also some low-cost quality players bound to be available.
There is still of course the possibility of Barnes being kept for the time-being since the Hornets will see first what they can get in the NBA Draft.
Should they be able to select a quality player, a small forward in this case, then Barnes may be as good as gone.
Barnes is not expected to be jobless for long of course with other teams bound to look into adding him. That list includes the Memphis Grizzlies, a team that may not be exactly fond of Barnes but a squad that could really put his skills and talent to good use.
