Could the Charlotte Hornets really pull off a LaMelo Ball trade with this team?
The Charlotte Hornets appear to be inching closer and closer toward trading LaMelo Ball. They seem to want to move him, and Ball himself is apparently open to it.
But are there any teams that would give the Hornets anything of significant value for Ball, who still has four years remaining (including this season) on the five-year, $204 million contract extension he signed with Charlotte?
Considering how talented Ball is, the Hornets can probably manage to rehome him while landing something decent in return, and Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey has proposed a rather interesting potential trade partner for Charlotte: the Portland Trail Blazers.
"Portland has plenty of salary-matching fodder with Jerami Grant's contract, and it could offer the Hornets some untapped potential in the form of Scoot Henderson," Bailey wrote. "That and a little draft capital could be enough to entice Charlotte."
Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball. Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images.The problem is that Grant is under contract through 2028 on a deal that pays him $32 million this season and $34.2 million in 2026-27. He then has a $36.4 million player option for the final year of the contract, and it seems hard to imagine him declining it.
Grant has seen a bit of a resurgence this season, averaging 19.4 points per game on 47.3/42.1/84.0 shooting splits, but it's only been 14 games, and he is 31 years old. He was dreadful last season, logging 14.4 points per game on 37.3/36.5/84.9 splits.
Unfortunately, the Hornets may very well have to accept a bad contract in return because of Ball's deal, and at the very least, they would be landing Henderson and some draft capital in this hypothetical trade with the Blazers.
In nine games thus far in 2025-26, Ball is registering 21.6 points, 9.6 assists and 6.9 rebounds over 31.3 minutes a night while shooting 38.5 percent from the floor, 29.8 percent from three-point range and 86.7 percent from the free-throw line.
Ball's efficiency has been nightmarish, and he has also missed time due to an ankle injury. The former No. 3 overall pick has been incredibly injury prone since entering the NBA in 2020-21 and just underwent ankle surgery last year.
Charlotte has until the February trade deadline to make a decision on Ball.