Chicago Bulls guard Jerian Grant (2) drives past Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) at the United Center in Chicago on January 17, 2018. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS via Getty Images) Orlando Magic have the potential to become a dominant defense Orlando Magic have the potential to become a dominant defense by Spencer R. Henderson The Orlando Magic have found an answer at point guard. The team will add Jerian Grant and Timofey Mozgov while trading away Bismack Biyombo to the Charlotte Hornets. The Orlando Magic will trade Bismack Biyombo for Timofey Mozgov and Jerian Grant in a three-team trade involving the Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports. Shams Charania of Yahoo! Sports was the first to report the Magic would acquire Grant. The Hornets will receive Biyombo. The Bulls will receive Julyan Stone from the Hornets to complete the deal. Sources: Charlotte, Chicago and Orlando finalizing trade that includes Mozgov to Magic, Biyombo to Charlotte and Julyan Stone to Bulls. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 8, 2018 Sources: Chicago is trading guard Jerian Grant to Orlando as part of a 3-team deal. — Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 8, 2018 This is a low-level trade, as the Charlotte Hornets and Orlando Magic are swapping underperforming 2016 signees — Mozgov originally signed with the Los Angeles Lakers that summer. Meanwhile, the Bulls are helping to facilitate the trade by taking on Stone’s $1.65 million non-guaranteed contract. The deal does little to improve the Magic’s cap situation. Biyombo is under contract for the next two seasons with a cap hit of $17 million per season. Mozgov has a cap hit of $16 million and $16.7 million during the next two seasons. Acquired when the cap spiked in 2016, Biyombo failed to meet expectations in Orlando. While he gave hard minutes, his poor offense never caught up to his four-year, $68 million dollar contract. He will finish his Orlando career averaging a meager 5.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. More disappointingly, Biyombo had just 1.1 blocks per game. He never made the massive impact defensively the team imagined when they signed him. Mozgov signed a similarly overpriced deal with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2016 and has since been traded to the Brooklyn Nets in a cost-cutting move. More recently, the Nets dealt him to the Hornets to acquire Dwight Howard. Mozgov averaged 4.2 points and 3.2 rebounds last year. He is essentially a nonfactor at this point in his career. The real prize and motivation for this deal is Jerian Grant. Grant is a solid fit for the Magic and fills a need at point guard. He is a former first-round pick who has been unable to find his place in the NBA. Last year, he averaged 8.4 points and 4.6 assists per game in 22.8 minutes per game. He started in 26 games, averaging 9.8 points and 6.3 assists per game. Grant posted a 47.5 percent effective field goal percentage. He is a career 31.3 percent 3-point shooter. Grant is a bit of a tweener as a point guard. He still has to refine many of his skills coming off his rookie contract. But there is limited risk in this move. Grant is on a cheap $2.4 million expiring deal and has shown flashes that he could develop into a rotation player at least. He is a long athletic guard with a wingspan longer than 6-foot-7 with great defensive potential. It fits the profile Jeff Weltman and John Hammond prefer. This move makes sense for the Magic on two levels. First, the team brings in a point guard. The point guard position has been the team’s biggest need this offseason. After failing to address it in the Draft, the Magic needed to address it before the season. Here, at least, the Magic get a young prospect to try out. The Magic signed Isaiah Briscoe to a three-year deal earlier in the week to help there. But Isaiah Briscoe is more of a high upside player and will be the third point guard on the team rather than the starter. There have been rumors about the team signing Isaiah Thomas. But Thomas, coming off his worst season as a pro, is a defensive liability who does not fit into Weltman and Hammond’s plan. It would appear the Magic kicked the tires on signing Thomas and decided against it. The Magic are in this deal for Grant. But acquiring Mozgov for Biyombo is another win for the team. Biyombo plays hard and is a great character guy. He played all 82 games last season. But his effectiveness is a question mark. Another season of Biyombo would take away minutes from first-round pick Mohamed Bamba. It is a smart move to acquire Mozgov, potentially buy him out, and clear up the frontcourt for Mohamed Bamba and Jonathan Isaac.<doc-sep>The NBA trade market is starting to kick off and Saturday night saw a lot of salary moved around by the Bulls, Magic, and Hornets. In a reported three team deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Timofey Mozgov will be sent from Charlotte to Orlando in exchange for Bismack Biyombo. Charlotte will also be sending Julyan Stone to the Bulls while Chicago sends Jerian Grant to Orlando. Got that? Here's the trade broken down team by team to simplify it a little better. Magic receive: Timofey Mozgov C • PPG 4.2 RPG 3.2 BPG .4 Jerian Grant PG • PPG 8.4 APG 4.6 SPG .8 3P/G .824 The Magic may be taking on the Mozgov contract by making this trade, but make no mistake this is a fantastic deal for Orlando by moving Biyombo's salary alone. Mozgov still has an expensive deal himself, but he can potentially be a better fit than Biyombo ever was in Orlando. They also get a solid defensive guard in Jerian Grant, which is huge because they were severely lacking in point guard depth. He may be 25, but there is still room in Grant's career to grow and improve. Hornets receive: Bismack Biyombo CHA • C • 8 PPG 5.7 RPG 5.7 BPG 1.2 View Profile Everything in life is a circle and Biyombo must return from where he began. Charlotte drafted him in 2011 but allowed him to walk after a disappointing start to his career. However, after trading Dwight Howard the Hornets were in major need of a rim protector to help establish their backline defense. Biyombo isn't going to help their offense in any way, but they'll defend happy knowing that Biyombo is behind them to block shots. Bulls receive: Julyan Stone PG • PPG .8 APG 1.1 SPG .2 3P/G .261 This feels like a money move for the Bulls. Stone's contract is non-guaranteed and Chicago can choose to waive him as result. They just agreed to match the offer sheet on Zach Lavine's new $78 million contract so maybe this was meant to bring back some cap room for Chicago. This is a pretty standard offseason trade. Nobody got amazingly better or worse with this deal, but everybody had something to gain from it. The biggest risk taker here is probably the Hornets. Taking on Biyombo's money, along with the reported news that they're signing Tony Parker, indicates that Charlotte is making a run at winning now. The Bulls and Magic, however, are still in rebuild mode.<doc-sep>CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Timofey Mozgov has been traded for the second time this summer, dealt from Charlotte to Orlando in a three-team deal that also included Chicago. The Magic sent Bismack Biyombo and two future second-round picks to Charlotte, which traded Mozgov to Orlando. The Magic also got guard Jerian Grant from the Bulls in the deal completed late Saturday night. Chicago acquired Julyan Stone from Charlotte in the trade that saves the Bulls about $2 million. The Hornets had just acquired Mozgov from Brooklyn in the deal that sent Dwight Howard to the Nets before he was bought out so he could sign with Washington. Neither Mozgov nor Biyombo ever came close to living up to the contracts they signed in July 2016, and both have two seasons and more than $32 million remaining. Biyombo played for Charlotte from 2011-14. He is fifth in Hornets history in blocks and blocks per game (1.6).<doc-sep>Bismack Biyombo is reportedly headed back to Charlotte in a three-team trade involving the Chicago Bulls and Orlando Magic. (AP) In 2011, Michael Jordan’s then-Charlotte Bobcats traded for the draft rights to Bismack Biyombo, who was taken with the seventh pick of the NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings. In four years in Charlotte, the Congolese center never averaged more than 5.2 points per game and found himself relegated to the bench before the team let him walk away in free agency in 2015. Hornets bring back disappointing player at a higher price Now Jordan’s Hornets have reportedly made a deal to bring Biyombo and the remaining two years and $34 million on his current deal back to Charlotte in a three-team trade including the Chicago Bulls and Orlando Magic that mostly amounts to salary being moved around. Chicago is sending guard Jerian Grant to Orlando as part of the deal, while ESPN reports that Charlotte is trading center Timofey Mozgov to Orlando as well. Charlotte reportedly receives Biyombo from Orlando while Chicago gets guard Julyan Stone and his non-guaranteed contract. Sources: Chicago is trading guard Jerian Grant to Orlando as part of a 3-team deal. — Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 8, 2018 None of these players are difference makers, and for Hornets fans, it must be frustrating to see a free agent season highlighted by the return of Biyombo and the addition of a well-past-his-prime Tony Parker. Same old story in Charlotte Charlotte has failed to prove itself as a free agent destination since Jordan became a part owner in 2006 and took control in 2010. That shortcoming, combined with subpar draft nights that have seen Biyombo, Adam Morrison and Noah Vonleh all selected in the first round under Jordan’s watch has left Charlotte as a regular lottery participant and blip on the overall NBA radar. Bringing Biyombo back is yet another transaction that does nothing to change the trajectory in Charlotte. More from Yahoo Sports: • Kyrie Irving never wanted LeBron to return to Cleveland in 2014 • Here’s what the 2018 MLB All-Star teams should look like • Brazil’s hopes were dashed by World Cup’s dumbest rule • OSU sex abuse charge makes it clear that silence is a thing of the past<doc-sep>
Well here’s something none of us expected — the Charlotte Hornets have acquired Bismack Biyombo as part of a three-team deal involving the Orlando Magic and Chicago Bulls, according to Adrian Wojnarowski: Sources: Charlotte, Chicago and Orlando finalizing trade that includes Mozgov to Magic, Biyombo to Charlotte and Julyan Stone to Bulls. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 8, 2018 As Woj reports, the Hornets are sending Timofey Mozgov to the Orlando Magic and Julyan Stone to the Chicago Bulls. The Magic will acquire Jerian Grant from Chicago. Bad contract wise, this is a wash for Charlotte and Orlando. Movgov is set to make $32.7 million over the next two seasons, while Biyombo is set to make $34 over the next two, assuming he opts into his player option after this season. So while the Hornets take on a bit more money, they get a player that can play in James Borrego’s system and is familiar with the organization. Biyombo is not an upgrade to Zeller or Hernangomez, but could he be useful in certain, short-term situations? I think so. Biyombo is also one of the more well liked players around the league. Despite his flaws, it was impossible not to root for him in the four seasons he spent in Charlotte. We’ll undoubtedly hear more about this as Summer League continues. Until then, dust off your #8 jerseys, folks. Biz is back. UPDATE (8:30 a.m. EST): The Hornets made the trade official last night, and announced that in addition to Biyombo, they acquired one 2019 and one 2020 second round pick.