The Charlotte Hornets shook up their team in a major way on Thursday morning with a trade that sent star point guard LaMelo Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves with Naz Reid and multiple draft picks coming back in return. But without Ball to steer the ship as the floor general, things do not bode well for the Hornets this upcoming season.
Last year, the Hornets posted a 123.2 offensive rating with LaMelo Ball on the court, good enough for the best in the league, as per the NBA’s official stats. When Ball was on the bench, the Hornets’ offensive rating dropped to 110.6, the worst in the NBA. Simply put, the team was historically good offensively when their star guard was in the lineup. They were near the bottom of the league without him.
As the stats indicate, LaMelo Ball is an offensive hub and it’s hard to see how the Hornets are going to attempt to replicate that following the trade with the Timberwolves. One of the moves the team made in the aftermath of the deal was to re-sign Coby White, but he is no Ball on the offensive end.
There is the injury concern regarding Ball that perhaps makes the trade somewhat understandable. But this past season was his healthiest since his All-Star year in 2021-22 when he suited up in a career-high 75 games. He reached 72 games this past season.
The Hornets do have some explosive offensive players still on the roster in Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges. But a winning team needs a functioning point guard, and only time will tell of the Hornets’ risk was worth it.
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