4 logical trade destinations for Kemba Walker

The Charlotte Hornets have reportedly made Kemba Walker available via trade, which gives the 29 other teams a rare opportunity: to acquire a star, in his prime, on an incredibly favorable contract that has a year remaining.

That may sound too good to be true - and it probably is, given the Hornets are reportedly looking to unload one or more of their bloated long-term contracts in any Walker deal - but it's worth remembering that stars in similar situations (DeMarcus Cousins and Jimmy Butler) have been moved for pennies on the dollar in the past year.

With that in mind, here are four teams that could trade for Charlotte's franchise point guard.

Phoenix Suns

Hornets get: Josh Jackson, Greg Monroe, 1st-round pick

Suns get: Walker, Marvin Williams

I broke down the case for moving Walker in late December and a trade with the Suns still makes a ton of sense for both teams. The Hornets would package Walker with Williams (and his remaining $42 million in salary through 2019-20) and receive 2017 lottery pick Josh Jackson, Greg Monroe's expiring $17.9-million contract, and one of the Suns' first-round draft picks.

The Hornets would get close enough to duck below the luxury tax while adding a pair of solid assets; the Suns would consolidate some of its overflowing stable of controllable lottery talent into an All-Star player they could pair with Devin Booker for the next five-plus seasons (assuming they're comfortable with tendering Walker a Mike Conley-esque five-year, $150-million extension in 2019).

The Suns will have a chance to effectively re-do the Jackson, pick, and Eric Bledsoe for Kyrie Irving deal that was reportedly on the table last summer; this time, with Jackson's value diminished, they may actually pull the trigger. - Potter

Indiana Pacers

Hornets get: Thaddeus Young, Darren Collison, T.J. Leaf, Glenn Robinson III, 1st-round draft pick

Pacers get: Walker, Nicolas Batum

Acquiring Walker would put the Pacers' backcourt in a stratum with the Raptors and Wizards among the best in the Eastern Conference. Try not to get goosebumps while imagining Walker and Victor Oladipo playing off each other and scrambling defenses into oblivion with their combined speed, vicious attacking, and off-the-bounce shooting.

Eating Batum's gargantuan contract might not sit well, but it's not like he's dead weight. He's still just 29, and still an impact player when healthy. The Pacers could bank on a bit of positive regression, give themselves a plus playmaker and competent defender on the wing, and run fast, creative, five-out lineups with those three, Myles Turner at the five, and one of Domantas Sabonis or Bojan Bogdanovic at the four. Their depth would take a hit (they rely heavily on Young's defensive versatility) but this would raise their ceiling considerably and give them a scary eight-man playoff rotation.

For the Hornets, getting out from under the three years and approximately $77 million owed to Batum beyond this season would be a nice piece of business. While Young and Collison aren't expiring contracts (Young is likely to pick up his $13.7-million player option), they'll come off the books two years earlier than Batum, and give Charlotte a pretty clean cap sheet in 2019 (when Dwight Howard's contract also expires). For their troubles, they'd pick up an additional first-rounder and the 20-year-old Leaf - an intriguing stretch big who's shot 16-of-32 from deep in his rookie season - while hopefully getting a look at Robinson (who's recovering from ankle surgery and hasn't played this season) before he hits free agency in the summer. - Wolfond

Philadelphia 76ers

Hornets get: Markelle Fultz, Amir Johnson, Trevor Booker

Sixers get: Walker, Marvin Williams

The Sixers have the war chest and expiring contracts to pull off a blockbuster if they're inclined to take a gamble on rapidly accelerating their development. Johnson ($11 million) and Booker ($9.1 million) represent the ninth- and 11th- largest contracts guaranteed to come off the books this summer; sending them to Charlotte would allow the Hornets to dump a significant portion of their outstanding salary commitments while they nosedive toward a top pick in the 2018 draft.

But expiring contracts alone aren't enough for a deal built around Walker and Williams (a major upgrade over both Johnson and Booker as the Sixers' first big off the bench). Philadelphia would have to sweeten the deal with one of their lesser recent lottery picks or a combination of future draft picks and super-raw prospects like Timothe Luwawu-Cabbarot and Furkan Korkmaz. Including Fultz in the deal would be an admission that all is not well with his much-discussed rehab, but even if the No. 1 pick's shot is completely broken, he'd still be a risk worth taking for Charlotte.

With Ben Simmons playing a ball-dominant role, the fit wouldn't be perfect with Walker beside him. But that's still a better fit than a non-existent Fultz, who doesn't appear to be anywhere close to a return to NBA action. - Potter

Detroit Pistons

Hornets get: Reggie Jackson, Luke Kennard, Anthony Tolliver, 1st-round pick

Pistons get: Walker, Williams

Yes, taking back Jackson's contract (guaranteed $35 million for the two seasons after this one) would be a bit counter-intuitive, but it would arguably be worthwhile if it meant recouping a solid wing prospect in Kennard and picking up another first-round pick. What this trade would really be about, though, is tanking in earnest. Jackson is on the shelf nursing a severe ankle sprain, and the Hornets (who would have no reason to rush him back) could really bottom out with Michael Carter-Williams as their starting point guard.

They'd still have some bad long-term money on the books, but this trade could kickstart a sort of soft rebuild - with a youngish core featuring Jackson, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Cody Zeller, Malik Monk, Kennard, and whoever they'd draft with the Pistons pick (likely to fall in the 15-20 range) and their own likely top-10 selection - and with some cap flexibility coming when Howard's and Jeremy Lamb's contracts come off the books in 2019. They'd be bad again next season, but that's sort of the point. If they're trading Walker, they need to be willing to commit to tanking. As much as it would hurt with the All-Star game coming to Charlotte in 2019, the next two drafts can help them load up on young talent to build a more sustainable future core.

The Pistons would have to swallow the cost - their most recent lottery pick and their 2018 first-rounder - with no guarantee that Walker sticks around past the 2018-19 season. But for a franchise that's been stuck between lousy and mediocre for nearly a decade, it would be worth the risk. Walker-Andre Drummond pick-and-rolls and dribble-handoffs - with Williams, Avery Bradley, and Tobias Harris spacing the floor around them - could be lethal (Walker and Williams are basically a millionaire's Jackson and Tolliver), and for an already stout defensive team in dire need of an offensive shot in the arm, this would be a game-changer that could propel them toward the East's top four. - Wolfond