Strap yourself in because this is a doozy. A mock trade proposal has the Charlotte Hornets doing the unthinkable, trading LaMelo Ball. Yes, you read that right. The hypothetical deal has Charlotte moving on from their franchise player a year before the five-year $260 million extension is set to kick in.
The deal, from NBA Analysis Network’s James Piercey, has the Hornets sending Ball west to San Antonio for a haul of players of picks including, Doug McDermott, DeVonte’ Graham, Reggie Bullock, San Antonio’s 2024 first-round draft pick, Atlanta’s 2024 first-round draft pick, Atlanta’s 2027 first-round draft pick, and San Antoinio’s 2028 first-round draft pick. This sounds more like a volume return trade that is more common in baseball, a handful of middling/unexciting players in the league combined with potential down the line, the potential, in this case, being future draft picks.
Post-crazy trade proposal clarity must have set in at some point because Piercey notes that the Hornets are unlikely to trade their star point guard. It is also mentioned that Ball is injury-prone, a tough but fair assessment, but it is the next step in the thought process, which is truly infuriating. The time-tested media-driven narrative of wanting to play in a bigger market. This is something that is rooted purely in speculation at the current point in time, and yet it appears to be the main driving point behind this proposal.
"“Here, the Hornets would be getting ahead of the problem. This isn’t about anything other than draft capital for Charlotte. They’re receiving four first-round picks – now, they can start over while building around the rest of their young core. Should the Spurs help them get that fresh start?”"
This is some big-time loser mentality. As mentioned above, Ball signed an extension in Charlotte. Why would he do that if he did not want to stay long-term? Sure, the argument could be made for the sake of financial security due to his inability to stay healthy however, he could have just as easily not done it and found a way to land elsewhere at the end of this upcoming season if he wanted to. And as far as this star players in larger markets thought process goes, one would think that once Giannis Antetokounmpo extended his stay in Milwaukee, this would have helped slow down this archaic thought process. Once upon a time, the only way to grow one’s brand and status was to play in a market such as New York or Los Angeles, but that time has gone the way of the Dodo.
While the merit of most proposed trades can be genuinely argued one way or the other, this does not apply to this nonsense being plastered on the internet. Until Ball asks for a trade, publicly or privately, ideas such as this one can go right back where it belongs. The rubbish bin.
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.