On Nov. 20, Kelly Iko of Yahoo! Sports reported that Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball had "grown increasingly frustrated with the organization" and that he was open to a trade. LaMelo responded to Iko's tweet on X about the report with a clown emoji. He later referred to the report as "false info." On Monday's episode of "The Kevin O'Connor Show," Iko said the guard's response was "understandable."
Iko added, "I've been in this game a long time. You understand. Star player is frustrated, report comes out, star player denies it. In the middle of the night, weeks down the line, months down the line, when he's traded, no one circles back to it."
In this case, though, if the Hornets do trade LaMelo before the Feb. 5 deadline, you can bet that NBA fans will circle back to the guard's response to Iko's initial tweet. Videos of him denying the report will also resurface on social media. That's just how it goes.
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported on Nov. 23 that he was "cautioned" that it "would be premature to go too far in depth on Ball's trade candidacy." So, maybe LaMelo will stay in Charlotte, or perhaps he will be traded sometime in the coming weeks.
Iko says LaMelo Ball denying trade report is 'understandable'
The Hornets are 4-13 in the East, five games back from the No. 10 spot. Kon Knueppel is in the Rookie of the Year conversation, and his fellow rookie, Ryan Kalkbrenner, is exceeding expectations as a second-round pick. They've given fans reasons to be optimistic about the future. It helps that Brandon Miller is back after a few weeks with a shoulder injury.
All of that is to say that it wouldn't be surprising if Ball requests a trade. He said that he "loves" being in Charlotte, but that doesn't mean that he isn't ready to try to contribute to winning basketball elsewhere. The Hornets could always make him available to see what they could get in return for him, whether he wants to leave or not, going all-in on their younger players.
Fischer did write that he doesn't think there is a better situation out there for LaMelo than Charlotte, as the Hornets have kept him as their leader through several head coaching changes. LaMelo has been Charlotte's priority, but that doesn't mean the Hornets or LaMelo won't decide to go in a different direction.
There may be a late-night tweet from ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania sometime in January or February about a LaMelo Ball trade. It doesn't necessarily matter what LaMelo is saying now.