LaMelo Ball appears to be on a minutes restriction, although the Charlotte Hornets have yet to really address his relative lack of playing time. A theory has emerged, courtesy of Kendrick Perkins, that the Hornets have intentionally held Ball out to limit his production and his chances of making the All-Star Game.
Perkins appeared on a recent episode of the Road Trippin’ Show, where he showed hosts Allie Clifton and Richard Jefferson a message from someone who may have knowledge of what’s going on inside the Hornets organization — or who is probably just upset with how much Ball is playing in the past weeks.
The NSFW message supposedly read, “They on this (expletive). Let’s play Melo about 25-28 minutes a game, so his numbers won’t be high. So if they trade him, they won’t be trading a two-time All-Star. They will be trading a player that numbers went down. You see what I’m sayin’?”
Hornets need LaMelo Ball’s value up if they want to trade him
First of all, Perkins didn’t say that he received some inside information about Ball. However, the way he presented the material was that the message came from someone quite prominent in the league, which Clifton and Jefferson appear to have corroborated. The retired big man also shared his two cents that Ball should “act” now, implying that the point guard should have a serious conversation with the front office.
The conjecture is hard to make sense of, though. Why would the Hornets tank Ball’s value when they have nothing to gain from it? If they wanted to trade the star, they would be looking to feasibly get the best return. Playing him less than 30 minutes per game won’t give possible suitors the assurance that there is nothing to worry about his health.
Preventing Ball from securing a second All-Star berth also wouldn’t help the Hornets and sounds quite like a petty move. They need to market him as a potentially perennial All-Star (and even All-NBA) candidate if they were seeking a trade package that would help them in their rebuilding efforts.
It’s still unclear why Charlotte has opted to restrict his playing time. The most logical reason behind this is that it is simply avoiding a major injury setback to preserve Ball’s long-term health. It would be nice to hear from the club, although it’s understandable if it prefers not to be that straightforward with its plans for the centerpiece of the roster.
There’s also the possibility of Ball’s minutes going up in the coming weeks. With the Hornets having convincingly defeated the reigning champion, the Oklahoma City Thunder, on the road, they have shown they are capable of competing with any opponent on any given night. As such, gunning for a play-in tournament berth seems like a realistic goal for the squad.