The Hornets address the real reason behind trading away both LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges

The Hornets address the real reason behind trading away both LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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In the 2026 offseason, the Charlotte Hornets made some massive moves by trading away their longest-tenured players, LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges. This surprised a lot of fans because the team had a bright second half of the 2025-26 season. However, it seems the Hornets were intent on making ambitious moves.

Trading away Ball and Bridges means they are now pivoting towards a new foundation with Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel. The Hornets knew that there were two contrasting groups, so they have now focused on building around the newer players.

The Hornets front office knew they had to trade LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges

With the trades, Ball is now playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Bridges is now on the Phoenix Suns. Those are strong moves for both players, as they land on decent teams that just reached the Playoffs in the previous campaign.

The Hornets are now focusing on a more sustainable team built around their young players. They did attempt to build around Ball and Bridges for a while, but it did not pan out, and the 2025-26 season seems to have been the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

MORE: Hornets GM Jeff Peterson is grateful that LaMelo Ball was gracious in his exit

Since they played for the Hornets for a long time, Ball and Bridges were naturally the first names that people thought about when the Hornets were brought up. To move in a new direction, the Hornets had to trade them away.

“The goal isn’t to make the Playoffs one time, or make the Play-In one time; the goal is to build a sustainable winner that fans can be really proud of. We felt that in order to do that, we had to be strategic as it relates to who we’re bringing in,” Hornets assistant GM Dotun Akinwale Jr. said in the team’s All-Access video.

It was a tough decision all-around, as the front office members did have lengthy discussions about their moves. Letting Ball and Bridges go was emotional, but it seems they are ready to move onto another project centered on Miller and Knueppel.

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