Kemba Walker and the Hornets were supposed to be so much better than this. Charlotte had a disappointing 2016-17 season, but that was able to be explained away pretty easily. Its failures in clutch situations along with injuries to key players like Cody Zeller held it down. This was going to be a bounce-back year in a season that looked like the Eastern Conference would surely be down.

Now, as the Hornets sit at 18-25, reports are coming out that they're listening to offers for their star point guard. Walker isn't just their best player. He is the reason the Hornets have seen any success at all. Charlotte is laughably hopeless when Walker is off the floor. The Hornets' minus-12.1 net rating when he sits doubles the next closest player, Dwight Howard, at minus-6.7 when Howard sits.

With a team like that, it would make sense for the Hornets to at least explore moving their best player in a way to collect on some assets, package in a bad contract and then start over. However, if Charlotte goes through with this potential trade, then what does that mean for everybody left behind?

The veterans

Howard, Nicolas Batum, Marvin Williams are three veterans on fairly expensive contracts. These are the players Charlotte would want to package in a deal with Walker. All of them are maxed out as far as potential goes, and if the Hornets really are considering a rebuild then they won't provide much value in that kind of environment. All of them can be flipped to teams looking to win or improve for assets or cap space.

Some of them will be harder to move than others. Batum still has four years left on an expensive contract with a player option in the final year. It's a safe assumption he's going to lock into that final year since he's about to be on the wrong side of 30. With so many teams capped out, and running out of money to spend, the Hornets are going to have a really hard time flipping him.

Howard is still a useful player, but the baggage that comes with him is difficult for teams to deal with. Personality-wise, he's been fine in Charlotte so far, but last season's Hawks debacle and everything that came before that is a big red flag when trading for him. Even so, his two-year contract makes him a movable asset to anyone that has a hole at the center spot.

Charlotte's best asset among this trio is easily Williams. The stretch four is the exact type of player a contender like the Cavaliers would look for. He's a good 3-point shooter and his length makes him switchable on the perimeter, which is perfect for the modern defense. Anyone that's able to come away with both him and Walker gets a steal in value. If he doesn't get moved with Walker then he's a great asset to flip at the trade deadline or NBA Draft.

The talented youngsters

Cody Zeller, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist are two young players entering their prime. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is a possible package player in a deal with Walker, but Zeller could bring in value in a trade all by himself. However, the Hornets wouldn't be crazy to not move them all together if they chose. They're both young and talented enough that, if the Hornets chose to re-tool instead of rebuild, would fit into their future.

Kidd-Gilchrist comes with problems. The former No. 2 overall pick is only 24 and has room to get better, but he's beyond giant leaps at this point. The perimeter jump shot is probably a lost cause at this point following the two shoulder injuries, but he's still one of the NBA's best defenders. His 6.1 on-court net rating is the highest on the team. What he lacks in variety on offense he makes up for by always putting himself in the right place at the right time. He has value as both a trade asset and keeping around for the future.

Zeller, on the other hand, has been Charlotte's most important player not named Walker the last few seasons. The undersized center has been battling injuries for a while and it's no coincidence that the Hornets are losing games without him. He's great at setting screens, is a very good defender and last season the Hornets went 3-17 in games he missed. The Hornets can move him if they decide to conduct a fire sale, but since he's injured right now it probably won't be until after the season

The general manager

What does all of this mean for Hornets general manager Rich Cho? Typically, rebuilding teams choose to part ways with the former front office and start completely over. Cho, hired in 2010 and given full control over team operations in 2014, has managed to put together playoff teams. He's made big splashes such as trading for Batum and signing Al Jefferson, but he's also swung and missed hard on players like Lance Stephenson and a couple of draft picks. Many of his decisions can be explained in context, such as the Batum contract, but he's also the one that put the current bench together.

However, if reports are true that the Hornets are considering trading Walker, does this mean that Cho's job is safe for at least the near future? If a GM thinks their job is on the line it wouldn't make sense for them to trade their best player and initiate a rebuild of any kind.

Cho's gone through a hardcore rebuild with Charlotte before and he's shown that he can flip a team around quickly. However, it's just hard to get away from the fate of most front offices before a rebuild. It wouldn't be a surprise if the Hornets kept Cho, but his future isn't looking too optimistic.

The head coach

Charlotte was beyond hopeless before Steve Clifford arrived. It possessed an awful offense with an even worse defense and a roster full of players that didn't want to be there. Clifford took a roster that was for the most part the same, and coached them up to a top 10 defense. He made Josh McRoberts look like one of the best offensive creators in the NBA. He's overseen the emergence of Walker from inefficient shooter to All-Star point guard.

Clifford is the reason the Hornets have taken rosters that looked underwhelming on paper to the playoffs. He gets the most he possibly can out of all his players, and he even changed his offense when it became clear that they had to go modern and shoot more 3-pointers. Clifford is an excellent coach that the Hornets should keep.

Rebuild or not, it's hard to find a good coach and the wrong one can be the difference between a successful rebuild or a flop. The Hornets have no reason to fire Clifford, and if they did so it would be a monumental mistake on their part. They would also better have a good young assistant in mind with room to grow, because Clifford has done everything he possibly can with what's been given to him. He deserves this job.

Kemba Walker

What do the Hornets do with Walker? He's a great point guard on a major bargain contract. However, this is the second-to-last year of his four-year, $48M deal. He's going to be getting a massive pay day soon and the Hornets won't be able to get out of giving him a max deal. He says he's committed to Charlotte and, maybe this is foolish, but it's hard to not believe him.

If the Hornets move Walker then they'll have to decide what they value most in a deal. Do they just want cap flexibility and a chance to unload on a Howard- or Batum-type contract? If so, then Walker could probably return a handful of veterans on short-term deals. Just fire sale the team and start over from scratch.

That might also be the best move for Charlotte, because acquiring a young player with potential or a draft pick in this market feels impossible. Nobody has money and almost everybody has a good enough point guard to where they won't feel desperate to make a trade for him. However, if the Hornets can snag a first-round pick while acquiring cap relief, that might be the best solution.

It would be interesting to see how this would impact Walker's overall legacy as a player. He's done a lot in Charlotte, but he's never been past the first round of the playoffs. A spot on a contender like Cleveland or San Antonio could give him a shot at a ring and maybe improve his overall legacy. He's already an All-Star, but would he be seen as something more with a team that wins? He has the 3-point shooting and off-ball skill set to help most teams, and his sick handle allows him to be a dominant ball handler. He'll fit in almost anywhere.

There is also the scenario where the Hornets double down on Walker. Give him the money he deserves, take a long-term approach to building a team around him, but don't go full rebuild. This is easily the hardest scenario when it comes to build a winning team, but it would also be hard to fault the Hornets, in their market, to not go with another rebuild.

If the Hornets were to go down this path, and Walker stuck with it, his legacy in the franchise would go further. He's already established himself with franchise greats like Alonzo Mourning, Larry Johnson and Dell Curry. Imagine if he stuck out the majority of his career in Charlotte? He could become a franchise legend, see a jersey retirement and without question solidify himself as the greatest Hornets player ever.

Charlotte has come a long way since its seven-win season in 2011-12. Walker, Clifford and Jefferson brought the franchise back to life and helped bring back a beloved name. Trading Walker is going to be hard enough from a money standpoint, let alone an emotional one, but sometimes the best thing someone can do for a player is move on from them.