Lone🐺

Now that the Lamelo Ball trade is finalized, I wonder what the Hornets will use that 40 million dollar trade exception for since they just now got it.

Here’s the truth: 1. The organization didn’t believe in LaMelo Ball. They didn’t believe that he could be the face of a championship-caliber franchise. They didn’t believe he embodied enough of “Hornets DNA (selfless, resilient, hard-working, high IQ).” They didn’t believe he was a max player. They didn’t believe in his health. They didn’t believe in his ability to play through physicality or that he could lead this franchise through the playoffs. 2. The plan was always to trade LaMelo Ball. The organization (Peterson, Schnall, Plotkin) had a plan and perfected it. They did not allow one season of exceeding expectations to change that plan. Due to health, coming into the season LaMelo had negative trade value. This season was all about keeping LaMelo healthy and flipping his trade value. The org did everything in its power to monitor minutes, b2b, and even experimented with Ball off of the bench. Winning wasn’t the priority, as we saw early on. It was keeping LaMelo healthy for the eventual flip. 3. Peterson traded for LaMelo’s replacement when everyone else thought it was to bolster depth. Coby White wasn’t just an upgrade over Collin Sexton, but the eventual LaMelo Ball replacement. As soon as LaMelo’s trade value was a net positive, he would be flipped and the next starting point guard for the Charlotte Hornets was already in the building. Peterson was thinking steps ahead. Max player. Never made the playoffs. Smacked in three separate play-ins. Healthy once out of the last four seasons. Trade value at a high. Replacement in the building at half the price. Flexibility moving forward. Not falling for fool’s gold this past season. Jeff Peterson made the move. The Charlotte Hornets are moving on without LaMelo Ball.