LaMelo Ball has been included in trade rumors since last season, but Gordon Hayward isn’t convinced there is much of a market for him.
Ever since being drafted third overall in 2020, LaMelo Ball has been the face of the Charlotte Hornets franchise. He is an All-Star and one of the best scoring guards in the NBA, averaging a career-high 25.5 points per game this season.
However, Ball has been plagued by injuries throughout his career, and the Hornets have not made the NBA playoffs in any of his five seasons.
As a result of the total lack of team success, Ball has been included in his share of NBA trade rumors, with teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, and New Orleans Pelicans floated as possible destinations.
In theory, a 23-year-old All-Star should fetch a hefty price if the Hornets decide they can’t see a winning future with him, although a former teammate of Ball thinks one thing is holding him back from being a premier trade target for teams around the league.
Despite boasting good (if not elite) young talent in Miles Bridges, Brandon Miller, Moussa Diabate, Mark Williams, and Tre Mann, the Hornets have been unable to take the next step.
Famously, Charlotte has rarely had a veteran leader in the locker room, which goes against the standard NBA practice of giving young players a shoulder to lean on. For three-and-a-half seasons, Gordon Hayward was the Hornets’ go-to locker room guy, but his health prevented him and the team from playing winning basketball.
As with most players in Charlotte, Ball needs to prove his worth and can’t just coast on his potential.
“As we see with the Luka trade, nobody is safe,” Hayward said on Fanduel’s Run It Back. “Coming up on his fifth year, I think for him he needs to focus on getting his health right so he can play as many games as he can.
“From a franchise situation, they gotta figure out, ‘Can we win and can we build around this guy?’ And I think that’s a question they need to figure out. It’s been tough sledding in Charlotte with the amount of injuries.”
Miller, Ball, Williams, and Bridges seem to be injured more often than not, and it’s rare to see the Hornets enter a game with an empty injury report, so even though they are near the bottom of the standings, it’s hard to measure their progress, if there has been any.
In theory, the Hornets could trade Ball for a massive haul of picks and players. He is one of the top 25 players in the league and hasn’t hit his prime yet, although, like Zion Williamson, there are a lot of questions surrounding his health and long-term availability.
Hayward insists that before an NBA general manager picks up the phone and makes an offer, they need to see Ball play at a high level for a prolonged period.
“If I’m LaMelo I’m just trying to get myself right, just try to get as healthy as I can be, because I have to prove to the league that I can carry a franchise,” Hayward continued.
“He’s proven that he can do it for ten games, 15 games, but as you guys know, it’s not about that, it’s about being able to carry the franchise the whole season and then into the playoffs, and that’s a lot more than just 10-15 games.”
With such a young roster, the Hornets won’t be able to go on a deep run in the Eastern Conference even if everyone is healthy anytime soon, but before the Hornets even have the luxury of choice, Ball needs to prove that he’s worth a gamble.
