LaMelo Ball didn’t sound rattled when asked about being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves. At Minnesota Timberwolves media day, Ball was pressed on whether Charlotte moving him came as a surprise, and his answer was as calm as it gets: he said he never really does surprises, so if you tell him anything, he just hears it out and goes about his day.
He also made it clear that the deal doesn’t change his mindset. Ball said he always has a chip on his shoulder.
Charlotte sent Ball and Josh Green to Minnesota in exchange for Naz Reid, a 2033 unprotected first-round pick, three future first-round pick swaps and three future second-round picks.
For the Hornets, it closes the book on the Ball era, one that never reached the postseason. Ball appeared in 303 games for Charlotte and put up 20.8 points and 7.3 assists per game while making one All-Star team in 2022. He also won the 2020-21 Rookie of the Year award.
Charlotte hasn’t made the playoffs since 2016, and the franchise now moves into Year 1 of life after Ball. The spotlight shifts to Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel, two young players with plenty of room to grow.
Miller played in 65 games last season in his third NBA year and averaged 20.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 43.5% from the field, 38.3% from 3 and 89.2% from the free-throw line. He enters this season with career averages of 19.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. The Hornets took him second overall in the 2023 draft.
Knueppel, meanwhile, didn’t win the 2025-26 Rookie of the Year award, but he still turned in a big season. The swingman averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 47.5% from the field, 42.5% from 3 and 86.3% from the free-throw line. He also led the NBA in 3-pointers.
Reid gives Charlotte a new face of its own. He won the 2023-24 Sixth Man of the Year award and comes into this season with regular-season averages of 11.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game, along with playoff averages of 10.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. In Minnesota last season, he averaged 13.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 45.6% from the field, 36.2% from beyond the arc and 73.2% from the free-throw line, and he had six double-doubles.
In Other News...
Jayson Tatum Now Faces The Pressure Celtics Fans Feared
The Hornets spent the offseason making one of the more dramatic roster resets in the league, moving LaMelo Ball to the Timberwolves and Miles Bridges to the Suns before adding a new group of pieces around a different core. It is the kind of turnover that forces a clean re-evaluation of where the franchise is headed, with Charlotte now trying to see what it has after a summer that changed the rosters shape as much as its outlook.
Kon Knueppel is already adding another layer to that picture, with a hamstring issue set to keep him out of training camp and the start of the season. For a team trying to establish stability after so many changes, even a short absence matters, because every early practice and preseason rep now carries extra weight in figuring out how the new mix will come together. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Moved On Fast From A Recent First Round Pick
The Hornets kept turning over the back end of their roster this week as they worked to get down to the league-mandated 15 players and keep their financial commitments in line. Charlotte first landed Buddy Hield and Ryan Nembhard from the Hawks in the Dorian Finney-Smith deal, with plans already in place to waive Nembhard, then quickly flipped Hield to the Bulls for Rob Dillingham in another move aimed at clearing roster room.
Dillinghams stay in Charlotte was short enough to underline how little margin the Hornets had to work with. Even after adding a recent first-round pick, the team had to move on fast to stay compliant, leaving the rookie on the outside almost as soon as he arrived and adding another layer to a week of transactions driven more by roster math than by basketball fit. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Media Day Put Early Pressure On This New-Look Core
Charlottes annual media day at Spectrum Center offered the first real look at how this new-look group is coming together, and the conversation quickly turned to both health and chemistry. Star guard Kon Knueppel is still working back from a hamstring injury suffered in live play, while newcomer Naz Reid sounded comfortable with the transition and praised the support he has felt from head coach Charles Lee as he settles in with the Hornets.
The timing matters because camp opens in Charleston from Sept. 29 to Oct. 2, preseason play follows on Oct. 6, and the regular season is not far behind on Oct. 21 against the Brooklyn Nets. For a roster trying to build something quickly, the early signs are encouraging, but the real test will come once the pace picks up and the Hornets have to turn offseason optimism into something more tangible on the floor. [Read more 🡒]