Hornets Urged to Trade Grant Williams This Season

NBA analyst Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report believes the Charlotte Hornets should trade Grant Williams this season. 

Williams is making $14,265,750 this season in the final year of his contract. 

"If anything does arise, look for Williams and his expiring $14.3 million salary to be involved. That's not necessarily an egregious amount for someone with his toughness, defensive versatility, outside shooting (career 37.8 percent) and postseason experience. It's just probably more than Charlotte would prefer to play a backup, especially if it wants to see more of 2024's No. 6 pick Tidjane Salaün," Buckley wrote. 

Williams appeared in 36 games last season after recovering from his ACL tear. He averaged 7.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game while shooting 42.6% from the field, 38.8% from beyond the arc and 81.5% from the free-throw line. 

Trading Williams would give Salaün more playing time. 

The Hornets drafted Salaün with the sixth overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. The 21-year-old appeared in 37 games last season. He averaged 6.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while shooting 50.3% from the field, 43.4% from beyond the arc and 65.0% from the free-throw line. 

Born and raised in France, Salaün has career averages of 5.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. It will be intriguing to see what type of numbers he puts up this season. 

The Hornets went 44-38 last season. They missed the playoffs by one game after losing the 8-9 NBA play-in game to the Orlando Magic. 

Instead of running it back with the same roster, Charlotte traded LaMelo Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Miles Bridges to the Phoenix Suns. Naz Reid, Grayson Allen, Royce O'Neale and Dennis Schröder are the newcomers. 

Hornets head coach Charles Lee is widely expected to start Coby White, Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Reid and Moussa Diabaté this season. 

Miller and Knueppel are the new franchise players in Charlotte with Ball and Bridges gone. Both youngsters have a lot of untapped potential.

Miller appeared in 65 games for the Hornets last season, his third year in the NBA. He averaged 20.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 43.5% from the field, 38.3% from beyond the arc and 89.2% from the free-throw line.

Even though Knueppel didn't win the 2025-26 Rookie of the Year award, he still had a special season for the Hornets. The swingman averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game and shot 47.5% from the field, 42.5% from 3 and 86.3% from the free-throw line. He led the NBA in 3-pointers.

The Hornets open the 2026-27 season on the road against the Brooklyn Nets. The home opener is against the Atlanta Hawks.