Trade chatter has found its way back to Charlotte, but Naz Reid doesn’t look like the kind of player the Hornets are ready to move.
That’s the reality even with the noise picking up around him. There’s been talk that Reid doesn’t want to be here, though that comes from nothing he has actually said. Early tension between Charles Lee and Reid added fuel to the speculation, but that friction has since faded.
And it’s easy to see why rival teams would circle him. Reid is exactly the sort of versatile big man contenders want to get their hands on. Still, the Hornets are most likely going to hold onto him, even if the first stretch of the season hasn’t told them much yet.
Jeff Peterson’s comments from the summer point in that direction. At the 1:15 mark in the video, he said he had been targeting Reid “for years.”
That doesn’t sound like someone eager to flip him after 11 games for a pile of draft picks. Peterson also talked about “sustained success,” and made it clear he views Reid as part of that plan.
He specifically said that bringing in Reid and the TPE from the deal puts the Hornets in position to sustain success going forward.
Even with those remarks coming months ago, the logic still holds. Trading Reid now would not make much sense. The return might be strong for a big man with his kind of appeal, but Charlotte doesn’t need to keep collecting assets for his sake.
What the Hornets need is a real look at this roster when it’s whole. Once Kon Knueppel is back, the team wants to see how a five-man group of Coby White, Knueppel, Brandon Miller, Reid and Moussa Diabaté/Ryan Kalkbrenner actually functions.
That was the setup they had in mind when they made the Reid deal, and they’ve only seen it for a few minutes so far. That’s nowhere near enough to judge it.
There’s also the bigger picture. This season was never really about tearing everything down and chasing another top prospect. At least from the front office’s view, it was about staying competitive without LaMelo Ball and building toward a future where winning can last.
Maybe that proves impossible without Ball’s playmaking. But the Hornets have to find that out themselves. Moving Reid now would amount to waving the white flag in a way that would make them the clear punchline of a league that still includes the Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls.
In Other News...
Hornets' Slow Start Just Reopened The LaMelo Ball Trade Debate
Charlottes uneven start has already pushed the LaMelo Ball trade back into the conversation, and Bill Simmons used his podcast to frame the deal as something that still needs time to breathe. He and co-host Rob Mahoney looked at where the Hornets stand now, with Brandon Millers role part of the broader picture, and argued that the early read on the move is still far too incomplete to settle into a verdict.
The trade sent Ball and Josh Green to Minnesota in exchange for Naz Reid, multiple future draft picks and a trade exception, but the bigger question is how all of it looks once the season settles in. Charlottes 4-7 record has only sharpened the debate around whether the front office got enough back, and the unresolved piece around Reid keeps the discussion from feeling anywhere close to finished. [Read more 🡒]
Brandon Miller Still Has Face Of The Hornets Pressure To Prove It
Brandon Miller arrived in Charlotte as the second overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, and he has already shown why the Hornets were so eager to bet on his scoring. The next step is less about flashes and more about consistency, because Charlotte needs him to become a steadier presence on both ends while continuing to grow into a more complete player.
The Hornets have also been asking for more than shot-making, with Miller expected to sharpen his playmaking as the young roster keeps taking shape around him. Health has been part of the conversation, too, and that only adds to the pressure on a player the franchise wants to see on the floor and carrying more of the load as his role continues to expand. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Return To Phoenix With More At Stake Than Usual
Phoenixs injury report looks far cleaner than Charlottes heading into the next meeting, and that matters for a Hornets team trying to navigate a tricky stretch with bodies still coming and going. Mark Williams is the only Suns player listed out, while Jordan Goodwin has already made his return from injury and was a meaningful factor in the previous game, giving Phoenix a little more stability as the matchup approaches.
Charlotte, meanwhile, arrives with multiple players tagged out or probable, which only adds to the challenge of keeping pace on the road. The game also brings a little extra edge because Grayson Allen and Royce ONeale are set to see Phoenix for the first time since landing in Charlotte, a reminder that this one carries more than the usual regular-season feel for a Hornets group still sorting through its own health concerns. [Read more 🡒]