A proposed three-team deal would shake up the Hornets, Warriors, and Magic in a major way, with Brandon Miller headed to Golden State and Paolo Banchero landing in Charlotte. Heavy’s Sai Mohan put the framework together on Saturday, and the result is a trade that gives each side a very different kind of return.
The simplest way to read it: Charlotte would send out Miller, Naz Reid, and Royce O’Neale, then bring back Banchero and Moses Moody. Golden State would part with Moody, Brandin Podziemski, and first-round picks in 2028 and 2030 to land Miller. Orlando would move Banchero for Reid, O’Neale, Podziemski, and both Warriors picks.
Charlotte would not get any draft compensation.
The money piece is part of what makes the proposal work. Miller is in the final year of his rookie-scale deal at $15,104,626.
Reid is at $23,275,862 this season, and O’Neale is making $10,875,000, giving Charlotte outgoing salary of $49,255,488. On the other side, Banchero carries a $41,240,250 cap hit in the first season of the five-year, $239,193,450 designated rookie extension he signed in July 2025, while Moody is at $12,500,000 this season.
That leaves Charlotte bringing in $53,740,250.
Heavy said the Hornets would trim nearly $2 million off their immediate payroll, though the actual swing in the piece is that Charlotte would add $4,484,762. Orlando would be the team saving money, sending out Banchero’s $41,240,250 and taking back $39,830,320 in Reid, O’Neale, and Podziemski, a difference of $1,409,930.
There’s also a deadline angle hanging over Miller. He and the Hornets have until Oct. 19 to reach a rookie-scale extension.
If he signs one, the poison pill provision changes how an acquiring team counts his salary, using an average that includes the new money instead of his current $15.1 million figure. If no agreement comes together, Miller would hit restricted free agency next summer.
For Charlotte, the grade comes out to a D+.
That’s tied to what the Hornets would be giving up. Miller is coming off a 2025-26 season in which he averaged 20.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.3 assists across 65 games.
He shot 43.5% from the field, 38.3% from 3-point range on 7.9 attempts per game, and 89.2% at the line. He also had surgery in early May to address instability in his left shoulder and said at media day Monday that he had been cleared for full contact for about three weeks.
Banchero’s numbers are right there with him. He averaged 22.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists in 72 games for Orlando, shooting 45.9% from the field and 30.5% from 3-point range on 3.8 attempts per game.
He was an All-Star in his second season. Both players are 23.
The fit question matters, too. Heavy’s case for Charlotte points to Kon Knueppel, who as a rookie led the NBA with 273 made 3-pointers, the most ever by a first-year player.
He shot 42.3% from deep and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting. The argument is that Miller and Knueppel would both be taking more than eight or nine threes per game, though Miller’s 7.9 attempts last season already sit in that neighborhood.
The Hornets would also be dealing with uncertainty on the outgoing side. Moody tore his left patellar tendon in March, has been limited to light court work, and does not have a return timeline.
Reid and O’Neale only arrived in July. Charlotte got Reid, a 2033 unprotected first-round pick, three first-round swaps, and three second-round picks in the LaMelo Ball and Josh Green deal.
He’s signed through 2029-30. O’Neale came in the Miles Bridges trade after averaging 9.8 points and shooting 40.8% from three in 78 games for Phoenix.
Hornets president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson also stressed the veteran presence those additions bring.
"They know that we want Brandon here for a very, very long time," Peterson said.
Still, the trade would leave Charlotte sending out three rotation players for one healthy player, taking on about $4.5 million more in salary, and getting no picks back. The Hornets won 44 games last season and came up one play-in victory short of their first playoff berth since 2016.
Golden State gets the strongest mark of the three, a B+.
For the Warriors, the attraction is obvious: a 23-year-old wing in Miller, while giving up a guard with no return date, another guard who could be headed for restricted free agency, and two picks. One of those picks is encumbered, since the Warriors owe their 2030 first-round pick to Washington if it lands between 21 and 30.
Podziemski is also part of the deadline squeeze, with ESPN’s Anthony Slater saying on The Hoop Collective that his 2027 cap hold is roughly $17.5 million. Miller’s hold would replace it on Golden State’s books. Miller and Podziemski are both facing the Oct. 19 rookie-scale extension deadline.
Orlando’s grade comes in at a C.
The Magic would be giving up the 2022 No. 1 overall pick for two rotation players under contract through at least 2027-28, a guard who could become a restricted free agent next summer, and two Warriors picks, including one that is conditional. Heavy noted that Orlando is projected to become a second-apron team in 2027-28.
That’s the basic shape of the proposal: Charlotte gets the star talent, Golden State bets on a younger wing, and Orlando turns Banchero into a package built around depth, flexibility, and draft capital.
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