Fair warning, I didn’t really proofread this.
I don’t really know what to say other than “wow.”
The Charlotte Hornets traded away one of the few players I was certain would be on the roster in 2026-27 in LaMelo Ball.
The full trade -
Hornets receive: Naz Reid, 2033 unprotected first-round pick, 2028 unprotected first-round pick swap rights, two more first-round swap rights with complex conditions in 2029 and 2030, and three future second-round picks.
Timberwolves receive: LaMelo Ball and Josh Green
First Reaction
We first got news that the Charlotte Hornets might be moving LaMelo Ball last night when the NBA Draft concluded, when Shams Charania mentioned the Hornets were listening to offers on Ball, and that something could progress in the next 24-48 hours.
The teams mentioned were the Minnesota Timberwolves and Toronto Raptors.
Other insiders rushed to confirm.
I had a feeling that something was progressing towards a deal since most of those insiders echoing the report did so while mentioning Ball was happy in Charlotte and excited about the roster direction.
To me, that signaled his camp had gotten wind of a potential deal and wanted to get ahead of it from a news standpoint.
From my own subjective point of view, I think the Raptors had much more to offer than Minnesota, particularly after the Stein Line was reporting that Jaden McDaniels was not a player the Timberwolves had available.
And certainly, I thought that 2025 first-round draft pick Joan Beringer would be in any deal from Minnesota pursuing Ball. So it was a surprise to me when the deal was broken by Shams Charania without Beringer.
My initial reaction to the deal was pretty animated.
“That’s it?”
“Wow. That really is it. A starting power forward and a single first-round pick.”
Not to blame Hornets on SI’s Matt Alquiza, but this is more what I had in my head, courtesy of his quick article last night:
That certainly would have been a much more significant haul than what Charlotte actually received.
And diving more into Ball’s value, I think I can get a little bit more behind the deal from a value standpoint, but not to the extent of others.
Naz Reid’s value is probably more than a first-round pick. The 2033 unprotected first-round pick could age well, and the Hornets did generate a ton of financial flexibility in moving off of Ball, including a $40.7M trade exception - the biggest in NBA history.
I said it in the moment and I’ll say it again here: The Hornets front office has built up a lot of good will over the past two years. I think they just burned it all in one move.
Everything they do from this point forward will be scrutinized with one question in mind: “Was this worth giving up our franchise player?”
The Bet Made By The Hornets
The Hornets are hedging LaMelo Ball’s health, plain and simple. You don’t really trade a player of Ball’s caliber from your team unless you think the recent returns of what he’s provided are an anomaly.
When Charlotte was at their best this past season, Ball was on the floor. He made the lives of Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel much easier, and the numbers back it up.
I’ve seen some hypothesize that the Hornets might not view Ball as a playoff player due to his lack of physicality and rim finishing. I don’t really buy that given the team just spent a top-20 pick on Christian Anderson.
I think Charlotte believes the 70-some games Ball played this year was more of an outlier than a new trend. And I don’t blame them if that’s the case, especially given the heavy minutes restriction placed upon him in those 70 games.
You’re also betting that the Minnesota Timberwolves are somewhat in poor condition by the time their 2033 pick comes around. We also don’t know what the draft will look like by the time that pick comes around, since the new system is only guaranteed until 2030.
My take on that? Who knows, man. It’s seven years away.
I’d also say that this maybe isn’t necessarily about what Naz Reid and that pick specifically do for Charlotte instead of ball, but also the flexibility that such a trade offers Charlotte.
They now have a surplus of four picks and three swaps, as well as a dozen future second-round picks to work with. Charlotte also has the aforementioned trade exception and a $15M MLE to work with in free agency.
The Harsh Reality, Though
The trade exception and draft picks are nice, sure, but the Hornets still just traded away the most talented player they’ve had in the building this millennium.
The front office will communicate that this is a part of a larger plan, and while it’s hard not to take that into consideration, I can’t sit here on June 25th and praise the Hornets for moves they’ve yet to make.
Thanks for the trade exception, I guess, but a trade exception isn’t getting me a 30-point triple double in October when it actually matters - you still have to actually find a player to use the trade exception on.
And while I understand that GM Jeff Peterson has made great moves on the margins throughout his tenure in Charlotte, this is by far the most consequential transaction he’s made, and it’s by far the most negative I’ve felt about anything he’s done, regardless of scale.
I’ve seen some claim that there’s an idea that Charlotte Hornets fans are going to value Ball more than what he’s actually worth, and I think that line of thinking has validity to most players’ trade value throughout the NBA. Fans will always naturally value their players more.
But with Ball specifically, it feels a bit different, no? Charlotte has built a team infrastructure designed to accentuate Ball’s strengths, so trying to replace his impact isn’t the same as just “bringing in a player with a similar 2k rating.”
So when I see positive “trade grades” across the board for a deal which saw Charlotte lose the engine which makes them go, it doesn’t really help me get to a place where I understand it more.
If the trade itself is designed to hedge Ball’s injury history with a significant amount of flexibility, it will only “mean something” once the team actually uses said flexibility.
Naz Reid, Because He Deserves A Section
I do think Naz Reid is going to be a good player in Charlotte, assuming they keep him. He fits what Charles Lee wants in his scheme, Reid is a capable front court scorer and passer, with some high-end shooting from the five spot. It opens Charlotte up for some interesting 5-out lineups, and I think Reid will work well with No. 14 pick Hannes Steinbach.
Reid is also on what I consider to be a really good contract.
He’s got four years left on his deal (the last year of which is a player option) worth about $26M annually.
I covered the Timberwolves for a few years, including when they brought in Naz Reid, and I can confidently say that Reid could become a fan favorite player, as he was in Minnesota, and I’m hoping that Charlotte embraces him in spite of the Ball trade.
Coby White Got His Extension
Buried through it all was Coby White re-signing in Charlotte on a three-year deal worth just under $25 million annually.
It made sense to bring back White even before the Ball trade, but the team could not lose him after the deal, so locking him up was no surprise.
Still, I really don’t think I’ve felt that level of apathy towards a Charlotte Hornets-centric Shams notification than when I saw the extension notification.
White is a good starting point guard, and I’m excited to see him grow on last year’s late season push. I certainly think the returns you saw from White probably made Charlotte a bit more comfortable in sending Ball to Minnesota.
What’s Next?
The Hornets aren’t done. Free agency hasn’t started, and I don’t think the roster is complete.
With the addition of Reid and removal of Ball from the roster, there is literally no reason for Miles Bridges to stick around. I do think he gets moved in the coming days.
I also think that the Hornets will, indeed, use the $40.7M TPE they received in the Ball trade on a player that fits the direction of the Hornets organization.
Some names to keep an eye on there: Orlando’s Jalen Suggs, Portland’s Jerami Grant, OKC’s Lu Dort, Houston’s Dorian Finney-Smith and Jabari Smith. I don’t know how realistic it would be for Charlotte to acquire a “star” with that TPE.
One Short Closing Thought
The Hornets had a star that wanted to be in Charlotte and they traded him away. The Hornets front office isn’t going to be given the benefit of the doubt moving forward, and will have to prove it was worth it to trade him away.