How can the Hornets help the best point guard in the East?

They’re trying, but it’s going to be difficult.

Kemba Walker is so good, it defies traditional basketball logic.

He’s 6’1” on paper — maybe 6’0” flat in person — but averages the NBA’s second-most points per game on drives. He entered the league shaky from three, and now attempts 10 per game on a 38 percent shooting clip. He’s undersized for the ever-growing point guard position, yet he’s never really been considered a defensive liability.

And just over a month into the season, he’s making a strong case that he’s the best player at his position in the entire Eastern Conference.

Walker is coming off two consecutive superhuman performances. First, he scored 60 points in a loss to the 76ers. SIXTY. In a season where both Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin went for 50, Klay Thompson hit 14 threes for 52 points, and LeBron James scored 51 points in his return to Miami, it’s the Hornets’ All-Star who turned in the best individual performance of the year.

That’s not all. Walker bounced back with a 43-point night against Kyrie Irving in a win over the Celtics on Monday. That’s 103 points over two games. According to Elias Sports Bureau, only five other players in NBA history have had a 60-point scoring night followed by a 40-point scoring night: Kobe Bryant (2006-07), Tracy McGrady (2003-04), Michael Jordan (1989-90), Pistol Pete Maravich (1976-77), and Wilt Chamberlain, who of course did this four times, because he’s Wilt Chamberlain.

To make it simple, Kemba Walker is a superstar. He’s averaging almost 30 points per game on scary efficient shooting. His Player Efficiency Rating is one of the 10 best in the league. He leads all qualified players in both fourth-quarter (9.7 points per game) and clutch scoring 7.3 points per game). And his play has vaulted an otherwise lottery-bound Hornets team into the thick of the conference playoff race.

Is there a point guard better than Kemba Walker in the East?

Well, who’s the competition?

• Kyrie Irving has been regarded the best point guard in the East for some time, but his slow start — and subsequently, his team’s early struggles — factor into this equation.
• John Wall, the super-talented, super-fast speed demon of a floor general who’s been at the middle of a disastrous season in Washington.
• You’ve also got to consider Kyle Lowry, who’s averaging a career-best 10.4 assists in his first season without DeMar DeRozan.
• Do you consider Ben Simmons a full-fledged point guard yet? Or are we considering him a point forward right now? He’s not playing at his best, anyhow.
• Eric Bledsoe is also having a tremendous season with the Bucks.

And then there’s Walker, the clutch performing, ankle-breaking Hornets guard who’s put the team on his back.

It’s a legitimate question worth asking. Is Walker the best point guard in the East?

The Hornets know it, and need surround him with some talent

But a look at Charlotte’s payroll is a heaping spoonful of your daily dose of depression.

The Hornets gave Nicolas Batum a five-year, $120 million contract that pays $24 million this season, $25.5 million next season, and has a player option — one he will surely opt into — worth $27.1 million for the 2020-21 season. Batum is averaging 9.1 points in 31 minutes per game — the second-lowest scoring output of his 11-year NBA career. When he had a chance to win a game for the Hornets at the buzzer earlier this season, he came up with all glass.

This isn’t Batum’s fault: some of it falls on former general manager Rich Cho and team owner Michael Jordan for handing out that contract. They also gave Michael Kidd-Gilchrist a four-year, $52 million deal and Cody Zeller a four-year, $56 million deal, then traded for Dwight Howard, who was flipped into two years worth $34 million of Bismack Biyombo. These contracts aren’t awful individually, but they coalesce into a payroll logjam.

That’s probably why the Hornets are having difficulty finding moves to get Walker some help. They’re aggressively pursuing a Bradley Beal trade with the struggling Wizards, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, but even Washington should know better than to take back Batum’s contract (and production) in that deal. Charlotte missed out in the Jimmy Butler sweepstakes, and likely didn’t have much to offer anyway.

The Hornets are running out of options and time. Given their assets, who are the best players who could potentially be had via trade? The Knicks’ Tim Hardaway Jr. might help them, but he doesn’t move Charlotte up from the bottom half of the playoff picture. It’s hard to acquire a difference-maker with that salary sheet and only Malik Monk and Miles Bridges to act as young assets.

Victor Oladipo may have been considered the loneliest star in the NBA, but after Walker’s recent performances, that title has transferred down South. He doesn’t have the supporting cast he needs for deep playoff run. After all, he scored 60 and still lost to Philly, and 43 points was barely enough to beat Boston.

Walker is in the final season of a four-year, $48 million contract extension, and he’s going to command the max when his unrestricted free agency arrives on July 1. Charlotte has one thing on their side: Walker wants to stay there. The Hornets have three options: either a) offer him to a five-year, $189 million contract extension and hope loyalty wins out despite spotty results; b) trade him elsewhere in the middle of the season; or c) let him walk for nothing in free agency.

If the Hornets can find Walker some help, their odds at keeping him will increase tremendously. The pathway to actually getting that help, though, is checkered with Charlotte’s own missteps in past summers.

The Hornets just might have the best point guard in the East, and they can’t do anything to help him.