LaMelo Ball Rumors

Sources say there has been some preliminary conversation between the Cavaliers and Hornets about Ball trade constructions that could furnish Charlotte with second-round draft capital and thus enable the Hornets to pair the elder Ball with his younger brother LaMelo. Charlotte, Brooklyn and Utah, according to league sources, are all teams that have been looking to facilitate multi-team trades or take on unwanted salary in exchange for draft pick compensation.

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Rod Boone: Charles Lee walked into the interview room and joked to keep it short because he had a headache. "Stupid ass coach," he said. Asked him what happened. He said it was his fault and credited LaMelo with trying to keep the ball in play:

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Rod Boone: LaMelo Ball collided with Charles Lee while going for a loose ball. But he got up and went to locker room

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Rod Boone: LaMelo Ball is back from the locker room and ready to go back into the game Official diagnosis is a laceration above his right eye.

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Rod Boone: Final: #Hornets 130, Sixers 93 Brandon Miller 30 pts, 8 rebs, 2 asts Ryan Kalkbrenner 13 pts, 9 rebs LaMelo, Moussa Diabate and Kon Knueppel each had 12

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Sam Ferber: Hornets win 119-115. Brandon Miller (21 PTS and 10 REB), LaMelo Ball (20 PTS and 11 AST) and Moussa Diabate (11 PTS and 14 REB) all double double. Charlotte snaps a 6-game losing streak in clutch time.

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Sam Farber: Congrats to @LaMelo Ball who has passed @hornets legend Muggsy Bogues on the franchise all time scoring list! LaMelo Ball's 5,532 points are the 8th most in Charlotte franchise history! Hornets lead Orlando 73-51 in the 3rd #HiveMentality

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Charlotte Hornets PR: UPDATE: @hornets LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller have both been upgraded and are available to play tonight at ORL.

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Rod Boone: LaMelo (right humb contusion) is questionable for tonight's game in Orlando. Brandon Miller (left ankle soreness) is probable. Tre Mann (illness) is out.

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Dalton Johnson: Really interesting last-second change: LaMelo Ball is no longer starting tonight for Hornets against the Warriors @nbcswarriors.bsky.social Sion James replaces LaMelo, who was not on the injury report and was completely fine in his warmups 👀

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The Timberwolves have been combing the trade market for weeks, evaluating possibilities both big and small. At this point, making a major move for a player like Morant or LaMelo Ball is highly unlikely, team sources told The Athletic, for several reasons. The Wolves are just a few million dollars under the second apron, a threshold they are determined to avoid in 2025-26 so they don’t have to deal with the most severe roster-building penalties for repeat big spenders. They are also concerned about liquidating their depth to match salaries for a star player, sources said.

New York Times

In addition, the Toronto Raptors have called the Grizzlies about Morant. As previously reported by HoopsHype, Toronto also checked in on LaMelo Ball over the offseason. Amid looking for a point guard upgrade, the Raptors have gauged the trade market on starting guard Immanuel Quickley.

HoopsHype

In the end, the Hornets kept the momentum they stole from the Lakers, rolling to a 135-117 win at Crypto.com Arena. The Lakers’ defense couldn’t slow down LaMelo Ball in the second half and it was unable to stop the Hornets from scoring 20 three-pointers. As a result, the Lakers (24-15) lost for the fourth time in five games. ‘I mean, it doesn’t matter who it is. Doesn’t matter the team, doesn’t matter the player,” Marcus Smart said. “If they were shooting 20% [before], they’re shooting 50%. And it’s unfortunate, but that’s part of the game. It’s tough. We got to figure it out. We got to play with a little bit more urgency on that end, especially, and kind of impose our will.’

Los Angeles Times

r/CharlotteHornets: Charles Lee on LaMelo Ball coming off the bench: "Props to him. He wanted to do it. He agreed to come off the bench to allow himself to be there for his teammates (in Q4). He's so competitive—he wants to help us win as much as he possibly can, any way he possibly can."

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