Could the Charlotte Hornets find their way as being an additional team that finally ends the Damian Lillard to Miami saga? That is what has been proposed by Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey. Bailey put together, as he described it, A New 4-team Damian Lillard Trade Where Everybody Wins, and it has the Hornets being involved as a fourth team in a facilitating role.
There are plenty of moving parts here which include Damian Lillard and Gordon Hayward ending up in Miami, Kyle Lowry and Jonathan Issac, James Bouknight, and Nikola Jovic in Portland, as well as Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, and Kai Jones landing in Orlando. But what do the Hornets get out of this deal?
The mock deal has the Hornets landing Anfernee Simons, Gary Harris, and Haywood Highsmith. Charlotte would trade away the three players mentioned above (Hayward, Bouknight, Jones) in addition to a first-round draft selection in 2026. Bailey would describe the positives of adding Simons and Harris in what is presented as a push for the Play-In Tournament for Charlotte.
"“A backcourt of him and Ball would be dynamic offensively, and Harris could spell either to increase the defensive upside and provide some three-point shooting. Highsmith could earn some rotation minutes as well, but there’s also a chance he goes down as a throw-in in this deal. That’s fine, given the potential upside from Simons.”"
Sounds pretty intriguing. The Hornets need to shake up the depth on their roster, and bringing in a vet in Harris, in addition to a player who appears to have found his footing after five years in the league in Simons, would help the Hornets’ cause. The downside is the first-round draft selection that they would be giving up. But as Bailey points out, giving up that draft pick would help reset the franchise by parting ways with players they need to and acquiring a talented player who is still just 24 years old.
"“What Charlotte is losing to get Simons essentially comes down to the 2026 first-round pick. Neither Bouknight nor Jones has shown a ton of upside in this system. Hayward is an oft-injured 33-year old on an expiring contract who makes way more sense on a contender. He didn’t figure to be a part of the Ball- and Brandon Miller-led future anyway.”"
There are plenty of obstacles for a deal like this to go down. Most notably, any deal involving Lillard to Miami is likely to be shut down or at least highly investigated and put on pause in the interim. If this deal were proposed, it would be incredibly difficult for the Hornets to say no. Charlotte needs to think about short-term and long-term when it comes to their roster construction. This trade should help in both areas and put them in a position to compete in the future.
Charlotte Hornets grade out mostly average in position-by-position ranking
It appears that most of the Charlotte Hornets' position groups grade out pretty average when compared to the rest of the NBA.