Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Exploring a draft night trade down opportunity for the Charlotte Hornets

Originally posted on Charlotte Hornets on SI
By Matt Alquiza | Last updated Jun 6, 2025 1:13 PM ET

The NBA Draft community is 100% sure of one thing as we inch closer to June 25th: that Cooper Flagg will be a Dallas Maverick. Outside of that? Chaos is on the menu for the next 58 picks that will help define the futures of all 30 NBA franchises.

Jeff Peterson and his crew are in an interesting position. Sitting one spot after the lottery's biggest wild card, the Philadelphia 76ers, the C harlotte Hornets lead decision-maker will have a myriad of options to parse through when his team is on the clock.

They could stay put and select their favorite of the Kon Knueppel, Ace Bailey, VJ Edgecombe, Tre Johnson tier of players that has crystallized itself behind the marquee duo of Flagg and Dylan Harper.

They could make a surprising selection, like Khaman Maluach or Kasparas Jakučionis, that would stun talent evaluators across the league.

Or, they could take advantage of a desperate franchise looking to make a leap into the top four for a prospect it is head-over-heels for.

The Utah Jazz have made headlines this week with the appointment of Austin Ainge and his commentary about how the beleaguered franchise won't be tanking in 2025-26. What if Ainge gets a little trigger happy and wants to make a move up the draft order to get his guy? Let's explore a potential draft night trade between Charlotte and Utah.

Charlotte moves back one spot, picks up a pick in the 20s

Bullets fly fast on draft night, and an NBA front office with conviction shouldn't hesitate to make a move for a guy they see as a franchise-changing talent. The Utah Jazz have been scorned by the lottery gods since they offloaded Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, leaving their pool of young talent barren.

As the draft process unfolds, it is not out of the question that both Utah and Charlotte fall in love with the same prospect. If Utah adores, for example, Ace Bailey, and they think that Charlotte will take him at number four after Flagg, Harper, and Edgecombe fly off the board, is it out of the realm of possibility that Ainge and his crew would make an on-the-fly decision to move up and draft for the mercurial talent?

If they do, this framework helps both teams. Utah has publicly stated their non-taking intentions, while Peterson and Charlotte are still preaching patience to the masses. By trading down one spot and sticking in the Bailey/Edgecombe/Knueppel/Johnson tier of talent, the Hornets will still draft a high-end prospect, and add a pick in the 20s to select another impact player.

Charlotte would give up one of their early second round picks in the deal, but the late run of draft opt have thinned out the level of talent in that part of the draft, making a trade up an enticing thought.

Is a move like this likely? Not particularly, as Utah could be content with drafting whichever talented player falls to them at number five. However, impatience breeds desperation, and Charlotte could be poised to strike on Utah's insistent desire to compete. A draft haul including Tre Johnson at number five, Drake Powell at number 21, and an international prospect at number 33 would be one hell of an influx of talent for a Hornets squad still in asset acquisition mode.