The Hornets Accepted Cash and a Protected Future Pick
The New Orleans Hornets traded Hilton Armstrong to the Sacramento Kings on January 11, 2010. Sacramento sent cash and a conditional second-round selection in the 2016 draft. Armstrong had been a first-round pick but no longer enjoyed a dependable role behind the Hornets frontcourt starters. New Orleans could reduce a roster obligation while Sacramento investigated a taller reserve center. The distant draft obligation had protections, so it should not be treated as an unconditional future draft pick or an immediately realized player asset.
Armstrong Played Only Six Regular-Season Games for Sacramento
Armstrong appeared in six Kings games after the January transaction, logging fifty-six minutes and ten points. He started none of them and had little time to change the team’s frontcourt rotation. In February, Sacramento included his contract in a much larger three-team exchange with Houston and New York. That later deal involved several players, so Armstrong cannot be credited with the entire return produced by those many assets. His previous Hornets appearances also do not become Sacramento production. The direct playing value was limited to six short outings.
The Conditional Second-Rounder Never Conveyed
The Hornets were owed a possible pick in the 2016 second round, but the protection terms prevented the choice from being transferred. Both franchise transaction histories mark the conditional obligation as unexercised. No 2016 draftee can therefore be assigned to New Orleans from this agreement. The club still received immediate cash, a legitimate financial asset. Because the public source ledger does not establish an amount or a direct player acquired with the proceeds, the retrospective should value it without inventing extra NBA points, minutes or an additional draft selection.
Two Small Returns Do Not Produce a Decisive Winner
Sacramento bought a brief center tryout and made use of Armstrong’s contract in a later package transaction. New Orleans secured a cash payment and avoided carrying the player, while its protected pick never arrived. Those are modest but recognizable forms of value. The original Kings-win grade gave excessive weight to six games and did not distinguish the subsequent multi-team trade from this small January exchange. Treating Sacramento’s six appearances and New Orleans’s cash fairly supports an even assessment, with neither side credited for assets beyond the documented incoming compensation.
Final Verdict
Even Trade. New Orleans earns C+ for the cash it received, although the protected 2016 second-round selection never conveyed. Sacramento earns C for Hilton Armstrong’s six appearances, fifty-six minutes and brief use as a tradable roster contract. Neither acquired a lasting NBA contributor through this stand-alone deal, and the earlier strong Kings-win grade lacked support.