The Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks have been named landing spots for Charlotte Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball by NBA writer Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report.
Bailey’s column comes in the wake of NBA insider Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports reporting that Ball is open to getting traded by the Hornets.
Potential deal between Hornets and Trail Blazers:Â Jerami Grant, Scoot Henderson and a 2028 first-round pick (via Orlando) for LaMelo Ball
Potential deal between Hornets and Clippers:Â John Collins, Derrick Jones Jr., Cam Christie and a top-5 protected 2032 first-round pick for LaMelo Ball
Potential deal between Hornets and Heat: Andrew Wiggins, Nikola Jović and a lottery-protected 2030 first-round pick for LaMelo Ball… or similar configurations with Tyler Herro or even Terry Rozier as the big outgoing salary. Obviously, swapping those players in for Wiggins would change the kind of draft capital going back to Charlotte. Better value would have to be attached to Rozier. If it was Herro and Jović, Miami might insist on sending no picks at all.
Potential deal between Hornets and Mavericks:Â Anthony Davis for LaMelo Ball, Grant Williams, Liam McNeeley, a top-5 protected 2028 first-round pick and a lottery-protected 2030 first-round pick
The Hornets drafted Ball with the third overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Ball won the 2020-21 Rookie of the Year Award and made the All-Star team during the 2021-22 season.
However, Charlotte is only 100-140 when Ball plays and the franchise hasn’t had a winning record since the 2021-22 season.
The Hornets, who are 4-11 this season, haven’t made the playoffs since 2016.
Ball has appeared in just nine games this season. He’s averaging 21.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 9.6 assists per game while shooting 38.5% overall, 29.8% from 3 and 86.7% from the foul line.
The Hornets signed Ball to a massive five-year, $203 million extension in 2023.
Ball, who doesn’t have a no-trade clause in his contract, is making $37.9 million this season.
A California native, Ball has career averages of 21.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game with the Hornets.