he Charlotte Hornets will finish the 2024-25 season at the bottom half of the Eastern Conference standings after another disappointing season from the squad. The results only put pressure on the roster and front office as they are five years in their rebuild with LaMelo Ball as the core of their squad.
The youngest Ball brother has been phenomenal for the Hornets whenever he’s available to play. However, his volume scoring failed to convert more wins for the Hornets, much to the frustration of Hornets fans.
Moreover, the 23-year-old guard has been injury-prone for the past couple of years. It’s hard to build a winning culture around a player who has only played more than 70 games once in his career.
Because of these issues, plenty of rumors circulate about the team’s options in the offseason. One of the more interesting rumors involves Ball leaving the team.
Analysts think the Charlotte Hornets should trade LaMelo Ball
It’s hard to deny that LaMelo is a superstar guard. His exciting play style makes him one of the more intriguing prospects to build around.
However, Orel Dizon of Swarm & Sting suggests that the team should move on from the former Chino Hills standout:
good number of pundits have expressed their belief that the Hornets shouldn’t build around Ball because of his fragile health and supposed inability to impact winning for Charlotte. It’s quite intriguing how recency bias may have caused people to forget that it was only three years ago when the 23-year-old phenom helped steer the squad to its only winning record in the previous nine campaigns.
The money tied up to Ball, whose five-year, $204 million contract extension that was signed in the summer of 2023 just kicked in this season, has also been perceived as detrimental to the Hornets’ hopes of building a long-term contender. However, it’s not as if the club will have better use of its cap space than paying its potential superstar.
The Hornets will surely find it hard to replace his averages of 25.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 7.4 assists in one player. Moreover, his flashy play made the Hornets one of the more interesting League Pass teams to watch.
However, rebuilding through the draft and smart roster construction should have the team in a better position in a couple of years than forcing the issue with a talented player who can’t carry the team on his own.
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