The Charlotte Hornets' expendable difference maker?

The 2023-24 season continues to be a struggle for the Charlotte Hornets, and not having LaMelo Ball in their lineup currently makes winning at a high rate very unlikely. With the team inching toward an inevitable midseason sell-off, the time has come to identify which players could be on their way out by the end of the season. 

An obvious candidate to be on the move is Miles Bridges. Bridges is on a one-year deal and will be an unrestricted free agent when the season is over. There is also the fact that Charlotte drafted Brandon Miller and re-signed PJ Washington this past offseason, two reasons noted by Sir Charles In Charge's Michael Saenz in his identification as the Hornets' most expendable player. 

"One player that could be viewed as somewhat of an expendable piece on the team is Miles Bridges. With the addition of Brandon Miller and the re-signing of PJ Washington during the offseason, there's a very real possibility that the Hornets come to the conclusion (sooner rather than later) that they are ready to move on from Bridges."

- Michael Saenz on Miles Bridges

What this all comes down to is understanding the need for Charlotte to identify who will and who will not be part of their competitive future. Certain players are more expendable than others, with players on expiring deals falling into the group considered expendable.

Of course, there is a chance that the Hornets could go in the opposite direction of what seems glaringly obvious and find a way to keep Bridges in Charlotte beyond this season. The issue with going down this path would be continuing to have roster redundancies, which is a much larger problem than anyone realizes. Having multiple players of relatively similar talent and production levels results in minutes being heavily allocated to this group that would otherwise be used on productive players who play other positions.

Barring an unforeseen turnaround pretty much across the board, Bridges is just one of multiple players who could be finishing this season in a different city by the time the season is over.