LaMelo Ball Frustrated, Open To Trade Away From Hornets

LaMelo Ball is frustrated with the Charlotte Hornets’ 4-11 start to the 2025-26 season and is open to a trade. This is according to Yahoo Sports NBA reporter Kelly Iko.

Ball was benched for the final 4:32 of the Hornets’ loss to the struggling Indiana Pacers on Wednesday. He shot just 5-for-21 from the field and had six turnovers in 27 minutes.

The 24-year-old won Rookie of the Year in 2020-21 and made the All-Star team in 2021-22. Since then, he played just 36 games in 2022-23, 22 in 2023-24, and 47 in 2024-25. He has had ankle problems throughout, severely limiting the Hornets’ ability to ascend from the gutter.

On that note, the report also indicates the Hornets are losing faith in Ball as a key piece of the core moving forward and the openness to move on is mutual.

While Ball has only reportedly expressed a willingness to be traded, it should be noted he hasn’t made an outright demand. Any team looking to acquire his services will have to consider his injury history and generally free-wheeling play-style.

Ball is earning $37.9 million this season and another $130 million over the following three years.

Hornets In Good Position To Pivot?

It’s certainly far from ideal that a player who once looked like a surefire building block hasn’t lived up to the hype. Ball’s frustrations with the lack of team success start with him as his availability has been at the center of it.

If Charlotte does decide to move on, it is possibly for the best. There are now other solid young pieces in place with Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel. Ryan Kalbrenner and Moussa Diabate have both shown promise at the center spot.

What a good pivot will come down to is securing a quality return for Ball. With years remaining on his deal and no trade demand, the Hornets don’t have to operate from a place of desperation.

There are surely teams that will believe they can reform Ball’s approach and be a positive impact player on a winning team, given he’s still just 24. Teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves have a clear need at point guard but it’s a matter of evaluating their risk-reward ratio.

Charlotte may feel the trade deadline is too tight a timeline to secure the best deal possible, so it could wait things out until the summer. Ball, naturally, would need to be aligned with that possible plan.

He wouldn’t be the first player to change course and take a more aggressive stance if things don’t materialize as he hopes.

Ball Appears To Downplay Report

Later in the evening, Ball responded to the report of his frustration by quote-tweeting it with a clown emoji.

We don’t know if he’s just upset the word got out on his frustration or he’s dismissing the report as false. We may have to wait and see how his on-court play and approach off the court does the talking.