Hornets do not intend to trade building block players

Oklahoma City Thunder v Charlotte Hornets
Oklahoma City Thunder v Charlotte Hornets / Matt Kelley/GettyImages
facebooktwitterreddit

This can be filed under things that are obvious, but the Charlotte Hornets are not looking to trade any of their players that they consider to be building blocks for the future.

Responding to a question on Threads about any potential trades involving the Hornets, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski stated "The Hornets have no intention of trading LaMelo Ball. Along with Brandon Miller, he’s one of their building blocks.". This is good news for anyone fearing that one of the worst teams in the NBA would be going into full-on firesale mode by trading everyone and anyone of value.

Even though it never hurts to ask about teams who are in a non-competitive state, such as the Charlotte Hornets, trading either Ball or Miller is a proposition that would not make any sense at this time. Both are expected to be key cogs for the Hornets when they eventually become a relevant team again, although that may take a bit more time than anyone would prefer.

There is no fault in asking about Ball and whether or not the Hornets are looking to acquire a haul in return via trade, as the one individual did. The NBA can be a wild place, and teams that are stuck in the basement have been known to make trades that are absolutely wild and Charlotte happens to be in that arena of teams that could do the unexpected.

As far as players who should be on the block for the Hornets, that is a group that includes Gordon Hayward, Terry Rozier, and Miles Bridges. Coming into the season, it was these three players who were obvious trade candidates for the Hornets if the season went south. Well, the season has gone that way, and it would be wise on Charlotte's part to start planning for beyond this season. While waving the white flag and acknowledging that this roster in its current form is far from competitive is not something that the organization wants to admit, and no fan wants to hear, it is in the best interest of the franchise to take this path and set themselves up for the future.