LaMelo Ball may stunningly be in his final hours as a member of the Charlotte Hornets.
The Hornets are now engaged in trade talks on their star point guard Ball, Shams Charania of ESPN reported on Wednesday. Charania adds that multiple teams are strongly pursuing Ball and that Ball could potentially end up being traded within “the next 24-to-48 hours.”
In the wake of the news, veteran NBA writer Marc Stein reported that two teams in particular have trade interest in Ball. Those two teams are the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Toronto Raptors.
Ball, still only 24, just completed his sixth season as a member of the Hornets. While his numbers did take a hit in 2025-26 (20.1 points and 7.1 assists per game), the oft-injured Ball managed to play in a fairly impressive 72 games and also helped lead Charlotte to a play-in tournament berth for the first time since 2022.
That said, we have been hearing for close to a year now that the Hornets might be considering moving on from Ball. An unflattering report emerged last fall about Ball’s allegedly poor work ethic, and another one surfaced months later claming that Ball was having issues with Charlotte head coach Charles Lee.
The Timberwolves’ dire need for a point guard has been well-documented, and Ball (a fellow 2020 draftee just like Minnesota star Anthony Edwards) might be the best trade option left with Kyrie Irving and Ja Morant already having been crossed off their list. The Raptors may also be looking for an upgrade at PG to Immanuel Quickley, so it looks like the engines are getting revved up for the former All-Star Ball (who is still owed roughly $43.5 million per year through 2029).
