Could the Charlotte Hornets trade for Houston Rockets forward Tari Eason this offseason?
Houston Rockets forward Tari Eason has been named an offseason trade target for the Charlotte Hornets.
NBA analyst Dan Favale of Bleacher Report thinks Eason could be a good fit in Charlotte.
Eason becomes a restricted free agent this summer. The Hornets can sign him to an offer sheet and then the Rockets would have 48 hours to match the offer sheet or lose him.
"Tari Eason is the perfect fit as a chaos agent on defense who runs the floor and drills threes," Favale wrote. "The Houston Rockets are also expensive enough to envision them entertaining sign-and-trade proposals. Charlotte will have the non-taxpayer mid-level exception at its disposal, but a $15.1 million starting salary isn't poaching this type of restricted free agent."
For the Rockets this season, Eason averaged 10.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game while shooting 41.6% from the field, 35.8% from beyond the arc and 77.6% from the free-throw line.
Eason has been in the NBA since 2022. He holds career averages of 10.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
Many people around the NBA believe the Hornets need to part ways with Miles Bridges and upgrade. If Charlotte acquires Eason, the team could start LaMelo Ball, Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller, Eason and Moussa Diabate next season.
The Hornets went 44-38 this season. They missed the playoffs by just one game. The team has a bright future with Ball, Miller and Knueppel leading the way, and if Charlotte's front office can upgrade Bridges' spot, the team should make the playoffs next season for the first time since 2016.
The Hornets have two picks in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft. After selecting four rotation players a year ago, Jeff Peterson has another opportunity to deepen his roster this year.
"I’m very excited about this draft," Peterson said. "It’s if not the deepest, one of the deepest that I’ve ever been a part of. A lot of good players all over the draft, of course. But again, where we are from an asset standpoint, it’s going to allow us to be flexible. So whether that means we bring two players in, consolidate, we’ll have different options that we’ll continue to explore and look at.
"But I’m excited for whoever we bring in because I know that it’s going to be someone who is a Hornet, and about what we’re about and at some point will contribute to what we are building here."
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