Proposed LaMelo Ball trade sends Hornets star to Western Conference

Whether or not it's going to happen (and all signs point to it not happening, LaMelo Ball trade rumors have and will continue to swirl this offseason. The Charlotte Hornets are very unlikely to move their All-Star point guard, but that hasn't stopped the NBA media from wondering what a deal might look like.

The Rockets are a team that could use Ball. They need a younger, more standard point guard to fit their timeline. He would make their defense a little worse, which is their calling card, but he'd improve their offense. The West's number two seed would get better. But what's in it for Charlotte?

In the proposed trade from the Rockets on SI site, Ball and Grant Williams land in Houston. Williams would fit quite nicely there. In exchange, Charlotte lands Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith, a 2025 first-round pick (10th overall), a 2025 second-rounder (59th), Phoenix's 2027 first-round pick, and an unprotected 2028 first-round pick from Houston.

This is admittedly the sort of haul that Charlotte would need to be given to consider such a franchise-altering move. Moving on from Ball would have a major ripple effect on everything, so they'd need players and picks to build around.

VanVleet has a $44.8 million club option for next season. The Hornets could either refuse to pick it up and let him come off the books (the deadline for that is June 29) or they could keep him as a one-year rental that could be traded easily at the deadline.

Smith is the big haul in terms of players. At just 22 years old, Smith would immediately become one of the youngest members of Charlotte's core, giving him the perfect chance to fit right in with Brandon Miller and Mark Williams. He's also a terrific defender and capable playoff performer.

Adding the picks is good enough to sweeten the deal and get Charlotte to say yes. They'd then have two top-10 picks this year, three first-round picks in 2027, and two more in 2028. They'd be utterly loaded on draft capital for the future.

With those two picks in 2025, they could easily add someone like VJ Edgecombe as well as Jeremiah Fears or Kasparas Jakucionis. That would give them a lineup made mostly of early-20s players: Fears, Edgecombe, Miller, Smith, and Williams. It's hard not to get excited about that nucleus of players.

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