The Charlotte Hornets have been in a perpetual rebuild for several years now, and at some point, they’re going to have to actually start fielding a competitive team. The team is reportedly increasing ticket prices next season despite having one of the lowest attendances in the league last season, so there’s an increasing pressure to put a product on the court that fans will want to come see. The team has a cornerstone star in Brandon Miller, a second rising star in LaMelo Ball pending his health, and some good complementary players. They used the trade deadline to acquire a pair of 2027 first round picks from the Mavericks and Heat, and they could use those along with the 6th overall pick in this draft to build a package for another star.

I don’t necessarily think the Hornets should go this route, and the way the Hornets roster is constructed makes it a little bit difficult to put too much of a big money package together. But it’s a fun exercise to entertain.

MIKAL BRIDGES

If there was a player most likely to be targeted, Bridges might be it. The Nets are in a transitional period, and their owner has said the team is going to take a “longer term approach” to team building. That sounds like a team that wants to collect some future assets. Assets that the Hornets have at their disposal.

Bridges is a perfect fit on the court. He fits in as a forward alongside Brandon Miller and provides a badly needed combination of high volume, high efficiency 3-point shooting with strong defense. He showed out in 27 games in 2023 after being traded to the Nets, averaging 26 points per game. He regressed closer to his career averages in 2023-24, but he has the ability to be one of the top options on a good team.

He’s only due $22 next season, which makes him relatively easy to trade for from a contract perspective. The Hornets could build a package like Davis Bertans, Vasilije Micic, and Nick Smith Jr. along with a bunch of picks to entice the Nets to part from Bridges. Since the Nets are looking to build from the ground up, they’re probably not too keen on poaching any players that offer significant winning value in the short term, which is good for the Hornets.

BRANDON INGRAM

You can never have too many lanky 6’8″ forwards named Brandon, that’s what I always say. The Pelicans seem to have this weird relationship with Ingram where he’s one of their better players but his name is always floating around in trade rumors and things. He’s had problems staying healthy, which is certainly going to give pause to any Hornets fan considering this trade, but if he plays, he’s a big boost.

The skill set may seem a little bit redundant with Miller, but it’s a skill set that you can’t have enough of. As is the case with Mikal Bridges, you can never have too many tall players that can dribble, pass, and shoot. His contract is bigger than Bridges’, so the Hornets will have to be a little bit more creative in building a package. The Pelicans also have more motivation to win now, so they’ll probably push to get players that can help right away than the Nets would.

DEJOUNTE MURRAY

The Dejounte Murray/Trae Young pairing has not worked out the way the Hawks would have hoped. They’ve struggled to play off each other and seem destined for separation this offseason. Both are on the table for trades, though Murray seems a more likely candidate to be moved given his more palatable contract and lack of entrenchment within the Hawks organization. For the Hornets in particular, Young wouldn’t be of interest given that he and LaMelo Ball have so much overlap in their weaknesses. That said, a Murray/Ball pairing could look like the same sort of thing that the Hawks had, but I think LaMelo is a more able and willing player off the ball.

For this to work to its fullest, Murray would have to buy in to being the all defensive player he was with San Antonio. He’d give the Hornets some defensive edge and one of the biggest, best rebounding and assisting back courts in the NBA.

DONOVAN MITCHELL

The most ambitious of the targets. The Cavaliers had their best non-LeBron season in over 30 years, but they still got a Shams postmortem detailing all the failings of their season and ultimately fired head coach JB Bickerstaff. Like the Murray/Young duo in Atlanta, the Darius Garland/Donovan Mitchell combo appears not long for this world. In that Shams report, he alleges that Garland will ask out of Cleveland if Mitchell signs long term. Mitchell has always seemed rather lukewarm at best about playing in Cleveland, so there’s a chance he wants a change of scenery (because Charlotte would be so much better).

Mitchell is a superstar, albeit a somewhat difficult one to analyze. He can be an excellent defender when he dedicates himself to that end of the floor, but that hasn’t always happened. He also can get exceedingly ball dominant in high pressure situations. It can lead to some dazzling displays of scoring and some of the best takeover basketball in the league, but it can also freeze teammates out and leave them frustrated.

The Hornets would have to be creative to get Mitchell here and would probably have to involve a third team, but if they land Mitchell and he’s happy to be here, it immediately accelerates their timeline to relevance.