The Charlotte Hornets won't be moving LaMelo Ball before the NBA trade deadline, but what is the real reason?
It's looking more and more like the Charlotte Hornets will be holding on to LaMelo Ball past the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline, which isn't all that surprising.
It's incredibly difficult to move star players — especially ones with large contracts — midseason, and Ball is no different in that regard.
In fact, he's even more complicated.
Sam Amick of The Athletic has reported that the Hornets probably won't be moving Ball in spite of his apparent disconnect with head coach Charles Lee.
"Speaking of high-profile players who haven’t vibed well with their head coach, LaMelo Ball continues to inspire league-wide chatter," Amick wrote. "But as is the case with [Karl-Anthony] Towns and the Knicks, the current indications are that the Hornets, and head coach Charles Lee, hold hope their future can still be bright with Ball, if only because it makes little sense to trade him now."
But then, Amick essentially exposes the real reason why Ball won't be dealt.
"Ball has come off the bench in three of the last eight games, in part to allow him to close games while also managing his minutes due to ankle and wrist issues that have plagued him since last season," Amick added.
Ball has played in 35 of the Hornets' 45 games this season. Between 2022-23 and 2024-25, he appeared in 36, 22 and 47 contests, respectively.
Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball. Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images.Because of his talent, there would surely still be teams willing to take a chance on Ball even with his persistent injury issues. But then you have to take his massive $204 million contract that runs through 2029 into equation.
You aren't going to find many — if any — ballclubs willing to surrender significant assets for an expensive player who is barely on the floor. Charlotte would either have to accept a skimpy return or eat some of that money, and neither scenario seems likely.
Given how talented Ball actually is, it does make more sense for the Hornets to retain him for now and see if he can somehow manage to stay healthy.
And to be perfectly honest, the former No. 3 overall pick has issues even when he avoids injury.
Yes, Ball is averaging an impressive 19.3 points, 7.5 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game this season, but he is shooting just 40.7 percent from the field in the process. It's nice that his three-point percentage (36.2 percent) is decent, but his lack of overall efficiency has remained a significant problem throughout his career.
A whole lot of pieces would need to place in place for Ball to be moved over the next two weeks, and it just doesn't seem probable that everything will come together for a trade.
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