Could the Hornets have LaMelo Ball play more off the ball with Collin Sexton?

The Charlotte Hornets decided to make a trade that brought Collin Sexton in as another ball-handler to help share duties with LaMelo Ball. Sexton has been a primary ball-handler before.

He was the primary ball-handler for the Jazz off the bench, but also shared those duties with Darius Garland in the starting lineup with the Cavaliers.

Ball is the better ball-handler of the two, but he has the ball in his hands a lot. Is there a chance that adding Sexton to the fold can reduce the ball-handling duties Ball has?

Why it makes sense for the Hornets to have LaMelo Ball to play more off the ball

Ball is a threat shooting from deep, shooting 36.7 percent on catch-and-shoot threes last season. He can be better, but having Sexton handle the ball might allow him to collapse the defense and spray to open shooters.

Having Sexton take more of the load of creating shots could also keep Ball healthier. He hasn't played more than 74 games in a single season since the 2021-22 season, when he was an All-Star.

The Hornets have a great shooter in Kon Knueppel, who could end up getting a starting spot in the lineup, too, so having Sexton in the starting lineup is no sure thing.

Ball is also by far the best passer on the roster, averaging at least seven assists per game every season since his rookie campaign, so Charlotte doesn't want to keep the ball out of his hands too much. Still, it might help the offensive flow to have two guys who know how to handle the ball out there together.

The Hornets would be smart to put Collin Sexton in the starting lineup

Putting Sexton in the starting lineup to start the year would be smart to see how well Ball and Sexton can share those ball-handling duties, while allowing Knueppel to develop. Sexton has already proven that he can be a very good bench scorer.

That means that if the experiment doesn't work, they can just slide Sexton back down to the bench and elevate Knueppel into the starting two-guard role.

Keeping Ball as healthy as possible is the key to the Hornets competing for a playoff spot.

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