The Hornets are walking the tightrope again: good enough to sniff the Play-In, messy enough that one wrong deadline decision turns the rest of the season into noise. They’re 21-28 and sitting 11th in the East, which is basically the NBA’s awkward middle seat, not tanking, not threatening anybody either.
And then last night happened.
Rookie Kon Knueppel just lit up the Mavericks for 34 points with eight threes in a 123-121 win, and it wasn’t empty calories. He closed it at the line, and the Hornets made it five straight wins. That’s the kind of heater that can fool you into thinking you’re one move away.
The core is still obvious. LaMelo Ball is at 19.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 7.6 assists on 40.8% from the field and 37.0% from three. He’s the engine even when the efficiency gets a little loud. Brandon Miller is giving them real wing production at 20.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists. Miles Bridges sits at 18.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 3.6 assists, and his name is exactly why Charlotte’s front office can’t hide from the phone calls.
With the February 5 trade deadline coming fast, the Hornets don’t need more mixed signals, they need a decision. This article is a straight prediction piece: the specific moves the Hornets are most likely to make, who they’ll actually keep, who they’ll shop, and how the roster should realistically look once the deadline dust settles.
Keeping LaMelo Ball As The Leading Guard
The LaMelo Ball deadline chatter has basically lived in two lanes all season: one side trying to force the “star wants out” narrative, the other side saying it’s not happening, at least not before February 5.
The loudest moment came back in November, when a Yahoo Sports report framed it as LaMelo being frustrated and open to a move. LaMelo’s response was classic, he reposted it with the clown emoji, then flat-out said he loves being with the Hornets and he’s just trying to win. Since then, the more grounded reporting has leaned toward him staying put. ClutchPoints reported (via Brett Siegel) that LaMelo isn’t expected to be moved ahead of the deadline. And Sam Amick’s read, as aggregated in national deadline chatter, is basically the same vibe: the Hornets are still hopeful it can work because it makes little sense to trade him right now.
Here’s the key part people ignore when they play trade-machine fantasy: the contract. LaMelo’s 2025-26 salary is $37.9 million. That’s real money, and it instantly shrinks the list of teams that can even build a clean deal without gutting themselves or dumping multiple bad contracts back.
On the court, he’s still the one player who bends defenses for the Hornets. This season, he’s at 19.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 7.6 assists in 39 games, with 40.8% from the field and 37.0% from three while jacking 9.1 threes a night. That’s not “perfect,” but it’s a star guard profile, and the playmaking is the entire identity.
My take is simple: keep him. The Hornets are 21-28 and 11th in the East, and they’ve never given LaMelo a truly competitive roster that stays healthy and fits cleanly around him. Now you finally have real young scoring gravity next to him, because Kon Knueppel is averaging 18.9 points on 42.9% from three and just popped 34 with eight threes against the Mavericks.
So yeah, I’m not doing the panic button. Let the Hornets actually build a roster that makes sense, see what LaMelo looks like when the team isn’t duct-taped together, then reassess when you’re actually good enough for the question to matter.
Moving Their Scoring Wing For Extra Pieces
If the Hornets make one real deadline move, I think it’s Miles Bridges. Not because he can’t play, he can, but because the timing finally lines up. Bridges is productive, he’s tradable, and teams with urgency are circling.
Sam Amick’s reporting has been consistent: multiple teams have interest, and the asking price is first-round draft capital, maybe even two firsts depending on the bidder. The teams most often connected in the chatter are the Bucks, Warriors, and Suns, with the Hornets trying to leverage the market instead of taking a meh “rotation filler” package.
Bridges himself hasn’t exactly been campaigning to leave either. He said he’s focused on winning and controlling what he can control, and even added that he’d rather be with the Hornets. That doesn’t kill trade talks, but it tells you the front office won’t be trading a guy who’s demanding out, they’ll be trading a guy they’re choosing to cash in.
From a value standpoint, he’s earning it. Bridges is putting up 18.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 3.6 assists on 45.0% shooting and 33.8% from three this season. That’s a legit scoring wing line, and contenders always need someone who can get you 18 on a random Tuesday and 25 when a defense forgets to load up.
That’s why I like this specific prediction framework:
Charlotte Hornets Receive: Tobias Harris, 2028 first-round pick
Detroit Pistons Receive: Miles Bridges
The money is the clean part. Harris is at $26.6 million as an expiring deal, and Bridges is at $25.0 million, so the salaries are close enough that it works under standard matching math without needing a bunch of junk contracts stapled on.
Now the basketball angle. Harris is not Bridges, but he’s a stabilizer. He’s at 13.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists on 46.9% from the field and 35.2% from three. He’s not a star, but he’s playable, and that matters when you’re still trying to field an NBA roster while you build the young core.
For the Pistons, Bridges is the swing. If they’re serious about contending for the Finals, Bridges gives them a wing who can actually create and finish possessions without everything being a guard dribble party. And because Bridges is younger and currently producing at a higher scoring level than Harris, you can sell it internally as an upgrade, not just “we moved a contract.”
For the Hornets, the pick is the whole point. One clean first attached to a veteran who keeps you functional is exactly the type of “sell high” move rebuilding teams dream about. You’re basically saying: we’re not paying premium money for a scoring wing while we’re still in the early phases, we’re converting that into a future chip while LaMelo, Miller, and Knueppel keep growing.
That’s why I’m calling it: Bridges is the move. It’s the most logical place to extract real asset value without touching the bigger identity questions.
Staying Away From Massive Decisions
This is the part where teams talk themselves into a “bold” move, and then regret it two months later.
The Hornets should not be the team that chases a massive, headline-grabbing decision at this deadline. The deadline is February 5 at 3 p.m. ET, and if you’re 21-28 and still building, the worst thing you can do is confuse one hot week with a finished timeline.
There’s always going to be noise connecting them to big-name targets. You can already see the “trade target lists” floating around with wild ideas, the kind of stuff that looks fun in a graphic but doesn’t match where the Hornets actually are. That’s exactly what the Hornets should avoid. No shortcuts. No “win-now” desperation. Not yet.
The smart version of this deadline is smaller and colder: move Bridges for assets, keep LaMelo, keep stacking reps for the young guys, and keep the draft ceiling high. If you can flip one veteran into a first, you’re doing the rebuild correctly. If you can also squeeze an extra second out of a secondary piece, even better. But the core idea is the same: don’t turn this into a panic shopping spree.
The Hornets have already shown they’re willing to do “absorbing money for assets” type business when it fits. Last season, they took in Jusuf Nurkic and a first-round pick from the Suns in a deal that sent out role players and a second. That’s the rebuild language, and it’s the same language they should speak now.
And yes, I’m still pro-tank, or at least pro-draft-position. This roster is in construction mode, and the cleanest path to a real jump is a top-five type talent entering the pipeline while LaMelo’s value stabilizes and his body finally gets a fair run. The Hornets don’t need a “massive decision” right now. They need one profitable decision, Bridges out for real assets, and then patience.
If the Hornets do that, you walk out of February 5 with more picks, more flexibility, and the same most important bet intact: LaMelo as the lead guard while the young core matures.
