The Charlotte Hornets did not view LaMelo Ball as a legit franchise cornerstone, which prompted them to pull the blockbuster trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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The Charlotte Hornets are not convinced of LaMelo Ball leading the franchise, which led to the star guard being moved this past offseason.
ESPN's Tim MacMahon dropped the Hornets' true motive behind their Ball trade to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the latest episode of The Hoop Collective podcast.
"I think they assessed what they had last year, and it was an extremely exciting last few months of the regular season. We're talking about Buzz City Killers and all that, but they decided, hey, we don't believe in this team as a team that can do any kind of real damage. And they said, actions over words. Their action says, we don't believe in LaMelo Ball as a franchise centerpiece," MacMahon revealed.
"They got his value up to the point where they could get a first-round pick in return, and they pulled the trigger. And so they didn't do that thinking it was gonna make them better this season. They did that thinking that it would allow them to build a team that they did believe could do some real damage in the playoffs. That's not this year. It's probably not next year. Now, they are absolutely, you talk about a team that's positioned to be aggressive. They're loaded with picks."
Hornets do not believe LaMelo Ball as franchise centerpiece
The Charlotte Hornets completed a blockbuster trade, sending LaMelo Ball and Josh Green to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In exchange, the Hornets acquired Naz Reid, a 2033 unprotected first-round pick, three first-round pick swaps, and three second-round draft picks.
The Hornets have taken a hard reset with their decision to move on from Ball, as they are now committed to both Kon Knueppel and Brandon Miller.
Ball saw himself becoming the Hornets' franchise cornerstone after being selected with the No. 3 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. However, despite spending six years as the face of Charlotte, he was unable to lead the team back to relevance or end its 10-year playoff drought.
Beyond failure to meet relevant success, Ball has also dealt with tons of injury issues and drew plenty of chatter regarding his maturity.
As Ball seems to be fully enjoying his new chapter now in Minnesota as Anthony Edwards' co-star, the Hornets are meanwhile back to scratch in building a much better group that will compete for the next couple of years.