The Toronto Raptors and Charlotte Hornets are on two completely different planes in the NBA's Eastern Conference, with the Raps surging right now as the second seed, while the Hornets hold the twelve seed.
Right now, of course, the talk of the town over in Charlotte has been the stellar first-year campaign of Kon Knueppel, who's looking like the odds-on favorite to take home the Rookie of the Year award at season's end. But still firmly thrust as the Hornets' star player is LaMelo Ball, the former Rookie of the Year himself from the 2020 NBA Draft class.
While Ball has had the keys to "Buzz City" for six seasons going strong now, all he really has to show for it in terms of a team effort has been cracking the play-in as the tenth seed in two consecutive years, and Charlotte got knocked out before they could even taste true playoff basketball. The years have continued to fly by during the LaMelo Ball era, and in every case, it seemingly appears like Charlotte is always destined to be a lottery team. And bearing this in mind, the rumor mill has been chock-full of LaMelo Ball trade availability chatter as of late.
Whether there is true substance to Ball feeling "frustrated" or the Hornets organization feeling "disillusioned" with their franchise star is still up for debate. Ball's name being thrown up as a top trade candidate is undoubtedly in the same realm of similar star guards like Trae Young and Ja Morant being explored as possibly being on the move — pending their respective team's results between now and the February trade deadline.
But the fun of basketball chatter gives us the freedom to tinker around assets and envision some hypothetical trade packages, and that's exactly what Yahoo Sports' Kevin O'Connor did on a recent edition of his podcast (YouTube link here). In this "fake" trade sending Mr. "6-7" himself to the Six, the following pieces would be on the move:
Raptors make a risky play in hypothetical LaMelo Ball trade scenario
- Raptors receive: LaMelo Ball
- Hornets receive: Immanuel Quickley, Ja'Kobe Walter, future draft picks
O'Connor mentions his rationale behind this hypothetical trade package, saying that while Quickley is a "good" player, a guy like Ball can help your team reach even greater heights. Look, LaMelo Ball is quite a character, both on and off the court. I don't know if I'd classify him as one of my favorite players, but he's very entertaining and certainly possesses all the talent in the world. He's a superb playmaker and has tremendous size at his position (I already made the 6-7 joke).
But at the same time, Ball's shot selection can be quite suspect, as can his defense, and he's already struggled with numerous injuries despite only being 24 years old. IQ isn't quite Gary Payton on defense either, and I definitely agree with KOC that Toronto would improve on paper. But given the Raps' blossoming chemistry and winning ways — why try fixing what isn't broken?
Also, I don't know if LaMelo Ball necessarily embodies the prototypical Raptors persona and characteristics. He can be quite the loudmouth, and while I'm sure he's a stand-up fellow deep down, I see Ball in that tier of more flashy, almost celebrity-like NBA talents. I'll give Ball some credit; I won't completely flak him for not being able to lead his team to the promised land, since it's not his fault there. We've seen how a similarly perceived guy in Brandon Ingram has fit seamlessly into the Raptors' system this year.
Simply put, it's just way too early to tell if LaMelo Ball could be on the move at all. And if that proves to be the case, much like the rumors exploring Ja Morant to Toronto, it may simply create problems on a squad that is finally starting to show promise.