5 Outside the box trades the Hornets should make to acquire dream targets

There’s no telling what the Bulls front office is doing, and they seem frustratingly content to be a fringe play-in team every year. But if they ever look in the mirror and decide to blow it up and trigger a rebuild, this would be a great start for them.

The Lonzo Ball situation is very sad, as he hasn’t played in over two full years now, and it seems his knee injuries may be career-ending. This would be a bail-out by Charlotte to allow the Bulls to get off of his contract.

Vucevic is another player that is overpaid and underperforming. He’s a solid player but they could get a similar impact at the center position from Nick Richards for a quarter of the price. The Hornets could take that deal off Chicago’s hands as well. 

Those two moves would save them $41 million next season, and with Hayward’s deal expiring, it would give them a chance at a fresh start (DeMar DeRozan is also expiring), the Zach LaVine albatross notwithstanding.

Giving up Dosunmu - who has been playing more for the Bulls lately - would be a tough pill to swallow, but may ultimately prove a worthy price to pay in exchange for getting these contracts off their books.

For the Hornets, they get an exciting off-guard who could fit in nicely between Ball and Miller on a similar timeline. You can afford to take on the Vucevic deal, and he actually may do well in Charlotte, playing when Mark Williams is off the floor. His three-point shot has cratered in Chicago, but a semblance of a stretch-big in a Hornets uniform would be a welcome sight. 

On top of that, you make LaMelo happy by bringing in his brother to rehab with the team. If he could ever recover, he’s a good player, but if not he’s still on an expiring contract next season, assuming he opts into his player option.