A 3-Team Trade to Land LaMelo Ball with the Lakers and Supercharge Hornets' Rebuild

The Los Angeles Lakers won 47 games last season, which was barely enough to get them into the play-in tournament. The Western Conference will only be tougher this season as the Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies and perhaps even the San Antonio Spurs figure to join the already overcrowded playoff race.

Maybe another 47-win season will be enough to get Los Angeles into the postseason mix again. However, the Lakers can't expect to get a combined 147 games from LeBron James and Anthony Davis again. L.A. also hasn't made any significant additions to its rotation over the summer, with all due respect to rookies Dalton Knecht and Bronny James.

Clearly, the Lakers need a talent infusion. It'd be even better if that new addition could serve as a bridge to the rapidly approaching post-LeBron era.

Meanwhile, the Charlotte Hornets have overhauled almost everything over the last year. New ownership, a new front office and a new head coach are all in place to oversee what are still the early stages of a rebuild.

Brandon Miller, the No. 2 overall pick from the 2023 draft, finished third in Rookie of the Year voting last season. Tidjane Salaün, this year's No. 6 overall pick, offers additional long-term upside.

LaMelo Ball, who's missed 106 games over the last two years, is a holdover from the previous regime. A former All-Star and a dynamic passer who seems best suited to play under bright lights, Ball could be just the kind of spark Los Angeles needs.

To get him there, we need to lavish draft equity on the young Hornets, involve a third team as a facilitator and rip apart the Lakers' underwhelming supporting cast.

We're dragging the Sacramento Kings into the mix because their offseason fiddling has left them with a glut of scoring talent but little heft on the wing. They can also chip in to the pick package headed to the Hornets without hurting their own long-term draft prospects too badly.

Los Angeles Lakers Receive: LaMelo Ball

Charlotte Hornets Receive: Kevin Huerter, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Gabe Vincent, Dalton Knecht, 2026 first-round swap (via LAL), 2028 first-round swap (via LAL), 2029 first-round pick (via LAL; unprotected), 2031 first-round pick (via LAL; top-1 protected, converts to 2031 second-round pick if not conveyed), 2025 second-round pick (most favorable of LAL or LAC), 2026 second-round pick (via SAC), 2030 second-round pick (via LAL)

Sacramento Kings Receive: Rui Hachimura

That's a lot to unpack. Let's break it down on a team-by-team basis.

Lakers Receive: LaMelo Ball

Lakers Give Up: Rui Hachimura, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Gabe Vincent, Dalton Knecht, 2026 first-round swap, 2028 first-round swap, 2029 first-round pick (unprotected), 2031 first-round pick (top-1 protected; converts to 2031 second if not conveyed), 2025 second-round pick (most favorable of LAL or LAC), 2030 second-round pick

Best known for his slick ball-handling and preternatural court vision, Ball has elite size for a guard at 6'7". Before the injury bug bit him, he looked like the foundational shot-creator every team wants.

Better still, his other skills should scale well if he isn't his team's singular offensive engine.

Ball shot 42.5 percent on 4.4 catch-and-shoot three-point attempts per game in 2021-22, his last healthy season. Last year was a 22-game wash, but Ball also cracked the 40 percent mark in the 36 games he logged in 2022-23. That's enough to conclude he has bankable value as a spacer, which makes him the rare on-ball star who can comfortably slot into a supporting off-ball role when the Lakers want to put James in charge of the offense.

A Southern California native, Ball plays a style that'll conjure memories of the Showtime Lakers. Flashy, daring, sometimes reckless—he's an open-floor artist who takes risks and generates highlights. That'll play under the Los Angeles spotlight.

Presumably, Ball will be more likely to ditch the off-court issues and embrace the maturation process many hope to see if he's surrounded by veterans and legends.

Landing a young player with Ball's productive history and massive upside, even with the injury issues looming, won't be easy. The Lakers have to cough up this year's first-rounder, Knecht, plus control of four more firsts to get it done. Not only that, but Los Angeles also has to send out enough salary to match Ball's $35.1 million salary in 2024-25.

Along with Knecht, walking papers will be distributed to Hachimura, 2023 No. 17 pick Jalen Hood-Schifino and Gabe Vincent.

Most of those guys were ticketed for significant minutes next season, and this deal thins the Lakers' depth considerably. But this is a play for a star, and few teams have historically been better situated to fill in around the margins than Los Angeles.

Big swings are scary, and Ball is far from a sure thing. But he's also something close to a buy-low candidate who was on a superstar track prior to his injury issues. In L.A., he'd have a shot to study under champions before he eventually took on his next and most important role: face of the franchise.

Hornets Receive: Kevin Huerter, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Gabe Vincent, Dalton Knecht, 2026 first-round swap (via LAL), 2028 first-round swap (via LAL), 2029 first-round pick (via LAL; unprotected), 2031 first-round pick (via LAL; top-1 protected, converts to 2031 second-round pick if not conveyed), 2025 second-round pick (most favorable of LAL or LAC), 2026 second-round pick (via SAC), 2030 second-round pick (via LAL)

Hornets Give Up: LaMelo Ball

It isn't as simple as recasting all of the reasons why the Lakers should want to acquire Ball as the reasons the Hornets shouldn't give him up. The two teams are in completely different situations, and the risk-reward calculus doesn't map onto them the same way.

Charlotte revamped its entire operation and should feel confident that Brandon Miller, who's a year younger than Ball, is a viable cornerstone. Big-wing size, a two-way mindset and an efficient 17.3 points per game as a rookie suggest Miller can become a star or fit perfectly next to another one. That he looked so good while often being overtaxed with a first-option role only brightens his outlook.

Ball and Miller could absolutely work together, but the former is already expensive at $203 million over the next five years. An average annual salary of over $40 million doesn't quite fit on a team that otherwise has no significant long-term money on the books and probably won't be piling up wins anytime soon.

Considering where Charlotte is in its rebuild, a heap of first-round draft equity, loads of second-rounders and movable deals—some team would inevitably want Kevin Huerter's shooting or Gabe Vincent's experienced backcourt play—are more valuable than a single player who's making superstar money.

If the Hornets were lined up to make a run at a top-six spot in the East, we'd be having a different conversation. But Charlotte should be in full asset-accumulation mode.

Plus, small-market teams have recently made out well when swapping stars for a hoard of picks from an L.A. franchise. The Oklahoma City Thunder are surely feeling good about the Paul George deal setting them up for a dynastic run.

Kings Receive: Rui Hachimura

Kings Give Up: Kevin Huerter, 2026 second-round pick

This is a great piece of business for the Kings, who nudge their way into the deal by offering up Kevin Huerter's shooting and a second-round pick to the Hornets while getting back the powerful combo forward they desperately need.

Hachimura brings heft to a Kings rotation that skews a little light between De'Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, Keon Ellis and Jalen McDaniels. Keegan Murray can hold his own, but DeMar DeRozan isn't exactly known for throwing his weight around on either end.

A burly mid-post threat who has typically hauled down defensive boards at better-than-average rates for a forward, Hachimura has also graded out as a break-even or better defender in three of the last four years, per Dunks and Threes' defensive estimated plus/minus. That he's also hit over 40 percent of his triples in two of the last three seasons is a bonus for a Kings squad that figures to light up the scoreboard.

Coming off shoulder surgery and potentially slotting behind Monk, Ellis and DeRozan in the backcourt, Huerter is a loss that Sacramento can afford. The Kings' need for size and defense increased with DeRozan's addition to a rotation that was already deficient in those areas. Huerter doesn't address them.

A dangerous shooter who adds a bruising element and could even allow for some oversized lineups alongside Fox, DeRozan, Murray and Domantas Sabonis, Hachimura fills a need big enough to justify surrendering Huerter and a future second-rounder.

Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Salary info via Spotrac.

Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@gt_hughes), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale.