The Charlotte Hornets have some talent, but clearly haven’t played the type of basketball they were hoping for over the past few weeks.
It’s tough to say the Hornets are in a great position to continue building, as they may need to move on from certain players to truly become the team they want to be.
Fortunately for Charlotte, they were able to land Kon Knueppel in the 2025 NBA Draft, and he’s been one of the better rookies in the league, if not the best.
Some have started to speculate that LaMelo Ball could be available, which could make sense if the Hornets want to hand the keys to Knueppel and let him run the offense moving forward.
Ball should still have value around the league, even though he has dealt with a growing number of injuries.
According to the latest from Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, several teams have checked in on Ball’s availability, including the Toronto Raptors during the summer.
“Speaking of trade interest, the Toronto Raptors checked in on the availability of Ball over the summer, league sources told HoopsHype. Ironically, Ball ran out of the tunnel with the Raptors before their game against the Hornets in Toronto on December 5th. Later in the game, he injured his ankle and has been out since,” he wrote.
The Raptors are an interesting team for Ball, considering they’ve played some solid basketball this season and could even emerge as a surprise team in the Eastern Conference come playoff time.
Adding Ball would obviously help, but it would also change some things in Toronto, to say the least.
More Hornets news:
- Hornets' LaMelo Ball dazzles against Hawks in return
- Eastern Conference team inquired about Hornets' LaMelo Ball
- Trade rumors: Hornets' Brandon Miller enters talks while battling injury problems
- Hornets get update on Trae Young's injury status before matchup against Hawks