The hype surrounding the draft lottery had some people forgetting about the Charlotte Hornets' current dilemma of whether to continue developing the roster around LaMelo Ball or trade him and rebuild around Brandon Miller and whoever they draft this summer. However, with the Hornets falling to No. 4 in the order, it has become clear that giving up on Ball would be a mistake.
It's worth noting that, based on the organization's statements after the regular season ended, it intends to move forward with the 2021 Rookie of the Year along with Miller and the other two core players, Mark Williams and Miles Bridges.
Of course, things could change in the coming months. The front office's evaluation could give it the idea that the best course of action to optimize its rebuild would be to ship the star, who has often been injured and whose leadership qualities have been questioned, in exchange for potentially more usable assets.
Hornets can't give up their only potential superstar piece
But now that Charlotte will presumably miss out on drafting Cooper Flagg and likely not get Dylan Harper either, it might not have the opportunity to land a superstar-in-the-making in the draft. Miller could eventually transform into one, but his underdeveloped handles and occasionally questionable decision-making limit his ceiling significantly.
As such, Ball might be the Hornets' best bet to one day have a top-10 or top-20 guy in the fold. It was even already his trajectory earlier in the 2024-25 campaign, having cracked NBA.com's MVP ladder at one point before injuries started to sideline him.
Maybe some prospects outside Flagg and Harper can become the franchise savior Charlotte has been looking for all these years.
Some folks around the league believe Ace Bailey may be that guy, comparing the promising forward to Paul George. However, it's also possible that his ceiling is Rudy Gay, who was a great offensive player during his prime but never had that much impact on winning for his teams. VJ Edgecombe, who, if it isn't obvious by now, we want in Buzz City, also has the tools to take the league by storm.
Still, none of those prospects projects to be a better and more marketable go-to guy than Ball. Some Hornets fans may not like it, but after the conspiracy-filled draft lottery, the 2022 All-Star remains arguably the squad's only hope of finding a player to lead Charlotte to the promised land.