[Charania] Multiple teams are strongly pursuing LaMelo Ball and the Hornets are engaged in talks
This came out of nowhere
Now that Giannis is out, Shams needs a new white whale.
It was hilarious how you could see the media immediately pivot to ANT rumors the morning after Giannis got traded.
“Oh, there’s an elite player in a relatively small market? Let’s just say he might want out. It’ll be fun and we’ll make money off of it!”
did u read the jim o article that came out about the whole giannis thing? shams was right the whole time lol
Shams has been reporting giannis leaving since 2019 after the ECF loss to the raptors. This last year is the first time he was right.
I don’t think Giannis JUST wanted to leave this year. Its been brewing for a while and honestly dude seems kinda wishywashy.
People so badly want every report to be wrong . It’s funny how sure people on topics with their actual non sources ..while they clame nobody has any….,
And when/ if the reports happen they act like thy knew the entire time
It’s the complex that Skip Bayless figured out how to capitalize on - Fans never want to think that they know less about the sport than anyone else, so they want the talking heads and “Insiders” to be wrong.
In the case of Shams/Woj/Schefter these fans will pretend to care about the ethics of journalism as if they wouldn’t race to twitter or Reddit to be the first ones to post about or comment on an unconfirmed story.
I mean, we know there were talks between the Bucks and the Knicks last summer!
People are so in denial about this stuff.
They traded for dame and then stretched and waived dame so they could bring in miles turner, not the actions of a front office that’s 100% sure their star doesn’t have wandering eyes
Yeah it’s become relatively clear giannis has spent the last 2 years pussy footing around a outright trade demand.
Shams became a more reliable source of Giannis news than giannis himself
It has been known, it has also been known how disgruntled Giannis has been (to a varying degree) for the better part of the last 7 years as they struggled to win it all and people were calling for Bud’s head VERY vocally here until they submitted the mountain in 2021. I don’t know why we are trying to be revisionist about it, 2019 through 2022⁄2023 were for sure “we gotta figure this out together guys” energy but beyond that was “you guys gotta figure this out”
you think maybe just maybe giannis and his camp being the diva he is may have leaked that back in 2019 for leverage lol? to force the bucks to make moves?
these guys don’t make stuff up. especially if you’re as big as shams. they are mouthpieces for teams and agents and players
Everyone on the Bucks sub saying Shams is a liar or just wants this to happen is simply blaming the messenger.
It’s like the girlfriend who blames the women her man keeps making passes at.
I like Giannis, I like his competitiveness, his pettiness, his humour and his love for Milwaukee. I don’t think it’s an act. He realized threatening got Jrue, his bros, special privileges, coaches, etc. When it blew up, he didn’t really know how to leave/ask and didn’t want the hate, especially from a place he loves.
Horst and Giannis broke this. Giannis wants out (and still loves Milwaukee) and royally screwed up his leaving.
I mean, other teams were moving as if there was a chance he was gonna leave before, so I’m not entirely sure that Shams was wrong all along.
There’s always smoke in the league and the whole narrative of the NBA is probably worth as much as the product itself. We all eat it up and honestly the drama is fun to a point so I can’t really complain.
I agreed with this take until a couple months ago when I actually tried to hunt down examples of this. Shams is taking heat because he’s the current mouthpiece for ESPN but he actually hasn’t been that big into Giannis rumors until recently when, now that more reports have confirmed it, they were very much real. It’s ESPN as a whole who’s to blame for the near decade of Giannis rumors. No one reporter has been independently stirring the pot.
Shams has not been reporting Giannis leaving since 2019. There is zero evidence of this, anywhere (and anyone reading this comment is free to check).
It’s just something Bucks fans have been saying. It’s a complete myth.
Yall were saying Giannis is happy and loves Milwaukee. And all the reports are fake news lmao
Giannis has been planting seeds for years. It’s just Bucks fans were in denial calling Shams a liar.
Didn’t really seem like Giannis wanted out till after dame got hurt.
Shams had been reporting he’s wanted out every season besides when he won the championship
I thought it was AE
Wolves POBO somewhat squashed those. Straight up said he talked to Ant and told him it came down to “to get this we would have to give up that” and he just went with what Ant said.
Basically Ant said he wants his friends on the team, (Naz and Jaden) so that’s what the wolves are running with.
White whale?
Lmfao look how stupid you look now
Makes zero sense to me. Lamelo was an engine of their truly amazing offense. Brandon Miller for example shoot 53 percent at the rim without lamelo and 75 with him.
Kon is like a regular good shooter without LaMelo and shoots like 70 TS% and north of 50% from three with him on the floor.
Trading him without one of the best passers in the NBA coming back to Charlotte just kneecaps the team for no reason.
One of the problems is that melo is an idiot. So they probably a more serious player as the face of the team
Bingo
Hes putting up legit nash level offensive impact its ridiculous. Im not trading him for anyone but like an mvp candidate.
Nash level is 50 wins and MVP votes my dude
Yeah lol, the kids here forget “Nash level offense” is not a typical decent offense. Was elite af
If someone values him anywhere close to that, I’d trade him. Feels like ticking time bomb that might be at peak value.
Selling high
It is hard to understand. They finally see some success after being horrible for basically forever and they want to get rid of their young exciting star PG?
This has to be something about personality and non basketball related stuff. Even if you thought you had a ceiling with LaMelo because of perceived maturity or leadership abilities - who could you possibly get to come to this small market that immediately improves the team?
And you can’t possibly be thinking years down the road. That makes no sense as this last Hornets team actually was capable of winning a playoff series or two.
I do question if you could win a chip with LaMelo, and I think he has clear flaws but let’s not get it twisted - this Hornets team was fun to watch, very young and exciting. What possibly could be the reason to want to break this up so quickly?
Or is it a health concern?
I mean, LaMelo came off of playing 72 games last year when had had only played 47, 22, and 36 games the previous three seasons. If their FO is iffy on LaMelo due to his health (or other reasons), now would definitely be the best time to move on
He’s only played more than 60 games in 2⁄6 seasons. And he’s getting $40 mill plus for 3 more years. Sell high before he turns even more into big bro Lonzo with the injury history
Exactly. And sorry Lamelo is all stats. He is not sometime who will help you become a top 3 team in your conference at all.
this is just objectively not true, lamelo is by far the most impactful player on the team based on analytics, he basically transforms the entire team just by being on the floor and playmaking even if his shot isn’t falling
i don’t think he’s a 1A but claiming he’s all stats is just false
The problem is that it’s the Hornets. They’re never going to convince an elite player to come play there. No all-nba player is ever going to push to get traded there or sign in free agency.
Their only hope of getting an elite player is in the draft. They have nice players on their roster but nobody else who can be a #1 playmaker for a good offense.
If they get rid of LaMelo they could be in the wilderness hoping for a draft pick to come through for another 5+ years easy.
Unless the medical report is just screaming that he’s going to fall apart any moment, they have to keep him.
The only out is if they can get a great player back. Maybe Jaylen Brown somehow?
get rdy to dodge this guy coming out of the TD Garden
Send him to Indiana and let him enter the 500
There’s gotta be something more to this
I mean would anyone be surprised to learn that he’s kind of a pain in the ass behind the scenes?
Yeah, all the comments confuse me. Everyone is like “Why would they trade Lamelo?!” And I just keep thinking “have any of you heard him speak? Or read a story about his driving? Or read an injury report?” He seems like an absolute knucklehead.
Lamelo was never a true winning player. too unserious
There was that Timberwolves reporter that threw it out there the other day to try to get the attention off Ant
Crazy bomb to drop at the end of the 2nd round tv show
At least it’s not the same anti-bullying commercial for the 40th time in a row
Gonna end up with the next iteration of DARE where a bunch of kids try bullying and realize it’s not that bad
Ngl man back in college and I was confront of the choice of doing molly or not doing it my DARE cop from second grade made a huge impact on my choice. He told us “I’m not going to lie it is the best feeling you will ever feel imagine going to like Disneyland or winning the Super Bowl and multiply that feeling by 100 that’s what the drug does” and then I decided to try it. So don’t say the program didn’t have an impact on the youth.
did he say anything else lmao i feel like he should have
“You don’t want none of this shit. It turns all your bad feelings into good feelings.”
“I think I kind of want some of that shit”
who remembers that cringe sportsmanship commercial from back in the day lol
Out of bounds Spurs, no challenges left, Game 7 107-107 2.8 seconds remaining
Mike Brown calls time out, players come in for the huddle
Brunson: “Coach…I touched the ball last…”
Call gets overturned, Wemby hits the game winner and New York burns down
Sportsmanship…pass it on
Alex needs to shut the fuck up.
it felt so manufactured, but here comes Stein and Fischer.
Every NBA city reviewing their traffic enforcement laws
Keep him the FUCK out of Dallas Houston or Philly.
-Signed, Philly local
Honestly LA may be the best bet, the 405 would grind him to a halt.
That’s home so he already knows the deal!
Toronto is perfect for him. He won’t need to drive anywhere.
The hornets had a good end to their season. Why would they do this? They lost the play in but they had a good surge at the end
Selling high, this was his healthiest year and his lack of 2pt scoring and transition reliance means he probably won’t translate well in the post season.
Probably the best take I’ve seen
Hawks fans know first hand how a player like that’s perceived value can swiftly plummet
Rude, but fair.
This has to be the only guess. They really doubt he can play 70+ games a year and they know his PR and trade values are at all time highs. He went from the perennial empty stats guy to being an impact demon in one year, maybe they’re callin bullshit lol
They load managed bim all season to get him to 70 games, hes too young to have to be managed like that. I can see the concern
tbh a really smart move if they can get good value. You have to respect teams that have the balls to sell high.
In this case it’s one Ball
Yes, the Hornets should be worried about the post season
They almost made it this year, why wouldnt you want the player in year 7 to finally make the post season lol.
Lamelo approaching year 7 is insane. I know he’s probably played like half the games, but it feels like he’s a few-years-in-guy.
Holy shit he and Ant are in year 7
Ant is the one fucking me up way more than melo
pelicans fan saying this is just two bums fighting
And the pelicans!
Pfft we’re ass. If anything last time a Ball brother was with Zion it was fun to watch
You’re one to talk.
Lmao but yeah they should
Probably selling high before he causes a fatality with his ass driving tanking his value.
We shoulda sent his ass and car to Mortal Kombat instead of Johnny Cage
It’s fascinating how much the new lottery rules have impacted so many trades already. Under the old system trading Lámelo would land them in purgatory, but now it’s not so bad to pick up some more assets, tread water a little bit, and hope to find a better 1A with some lottery luck or if the right trade comes along
He’s not a winning player AT ALL – thinks it’s playground ball
Every metric shows him as a winning player bud
From a Hornets fan, there has been absolutely no noise about this previously and I’m also struggling to remember another star trade rumor that was presented this way i.e. there’s no suggestion or inference that the star or the team he’s currently on had anything to do with this speculation. Like even the recent Ant rumors came with “he’s a little unhappy with team direction…” etc.
This report is saying teams are aggressively pursuing someone who is currently the franchise cornerstone, is happy where he is, and team is happy with him. Im not saying they wouldn’t move him but it’s just a bizarre thing to report I don’t think I’ve seen a rumor like this before
You have a young guy on a huge contract whose value has never been higher. Add in his health history and his eccentric personality and basketball IQ being questionable and I think you at least have to listen if teams are interested. I doubt they are looking to trade him but more gauging what’s a possible return they could get for him.
Just when I thought I was out (Giannis)
They pull me back in (LaMelo and Jaylen)
We got a sneak peek of the future Antman trade talks too
Fan fic
[deleted]
Future Raptor? Can’t cause accidents if you’re stuck in Toronto’s gridlock traffic.
Dunno, people try some wild stuff trying to sneak into that Spadina exit
Don’t let Melo find out
Don’t test him
You got this one Caz
Where there’s a will there’s a way
What
I wonder why the Hornets would do this.
Honestly, prob selling high. Dude plays way less than you would think. This was his first healthy year since his second season
I don’t think the hornets are doing this.
I think the wolves are calling and reporting
And the hornets haven’t hung up. Because the hornets never hand up
If Luka is tradeable, then everyone is. With that being said Hornets would only say yes if its a huge overpay and idk why Raptors or Wolves would do that
Damn, Nico changed the league. GOAT Basketball Terriorist
tbf luka shouldnt have been tradeable nico was just an idiot
They wanna sell high on him. Hes very immature and doesnt really play winning basketball.
He’s the engine behind the majority of our wins in his tenure. We are 20-85 the last 3 years when he didn’t play
LaMelo doesn’t play winning basketball in 2026 is crazy
LaMelo is their entire offensive creation lol Kon aint shooting out of the stratosphere without him
Facts, people let their hate of Melo’s personality blind them to his skillset.
This. I promise you kon will look like a glorified role player if we trade lamelo
Kon played some his best ball last yr when Miller and Ball missed time btw
analytics show that the entire hornets team including kon play better when lamelo’s there, and analytics aside they didn’t even start winning games until lamelo and brandon miller had the healthiest stretches of their career
struggle to understand why the hornets would do this
Lamelo played 72 games last year, but only 105 the previous three. Selling high now if you’re not fully convinced on him (either health or playstyle) makes sense
i guess i can see it, but lamelo is the backbone of their offense so they gotta get some worthy return
We have an entire new medical staff ever since MJ sold the team to the new owners. It’s not a coincidence that LaMelo played way more games after that happened.
This being so sudden and unexpected feels like it’s actually real. Boston, Brooklyn or Houston
When it comes unexpected like this, usually the trade gets done in less than 24 hrs.
And want to get things done before free agency and before less teams have flexibility.
No way Boston. Not a Brad Stevens player.
Boston will probably be the 3rd team getting off of Brown
Apparently Minnesota or Toronto
Boston is too smart to trade for him
Wolves gotta go all in on this
Hey buddy. WITH WHAT FUCKING ASSETS
A gently used Julius Rand… Oh… Shit…
We’ll send you Rocco (future Wemby stopper) and some lefse
seems more like a desperate move if it were to happen
Yeah but it’s a great fit on paper and they’re the same age. Haven’t even entered their primes yet. You’d have your core set for a very long time
idk man if I have Ant, my standards would be higher for the “big” move
What’s a bigger move than finding another star of the same age to build around for years to come?
Funny enough stein just said it’s the Wolves and Raptors lol
We don’t have anything lol
Thank you for being the voice of reason
Pass
Lemelo is really good at that
Fuck it sign Wiseman too
Complete the 2020 trifecta
raptors or wolves?
I can’t imagine what Minnesota would offer that would constitute an “aggressive offer,” though.
Threatening them at gunpoint with picks and a top 5 protected swap
Rudy and picks I guess but that’s not agressive
3 team with Boston, Jalen Brown to the Hornets, Gobert to the Celtics
I don’t like it, but that’s probably the best we could do lol
Have there been rumors before for either??
yes
Bias aside, Melo and Ant is box office cinema
No idea how they can even come up with a competitive offer with how asset-deprived they are, mind
Sad news for Charlotte fans. They finally get some momentum and it might end.
It also might boost us over the top if a team overpays. So far, I trust this new regime.
They should really sell high on him. LaMelo Ball is not a player that’s gonna take you deep into the playoffs. He has absolutely no situational awareness.
That’s how he keeps crashing his car too
I would rather us trade Miller, I don’t see how this makes sense if it happened
RIP to that really fun team I guess.
Hornets would be completely idiotic to give him up.
LOL bruh they will lose a good portion of the fanbase, literally a team on the come up and we do some shit like this. LaMelo gone before Bridges will make me crashout.
LaMelo for JB, not because it makes sense, but for the Boston media to finally find someone to challenge their outrageous claims with Lavar
Genuinely upset about this. Bro actually wants to be here. We trade him, our offense is falling to shit. We’re so much worse when he’s sitting.
I’m soooooo excited for Quickley, Grady Dick, and like 2 picks. This fucking sucks.
Hornets got to close to playoffs last year, can’t have that happen again
Lmaoo hornets are just gonna be in endless hell forever
how dumb would a lamelo sengun swap be
Are there new traffic laws in Charlotte that they’re trying to get ahead of?
This feels so random right after the draft.
Spurs should trade Fox, ATL’s ‘27 1st and the BOS 1st swap.
Charlotte can play Fox and dump him later.
They finally have a promising season and want to move the guy who made everything work, he must be an awful locker room guy lol
Everyone loves him though. I’ve never heard a bad word about him outside of his driving and fashion sense.
I hope he stays, mostly so Shams can be dead wrong again.
Selling high I see. Dude can’t stay healthy and I don’t think they really trust him as the franchise guy.
Ja with shooters in charlotte let’s gooooooooo
I understand why they would do that but I also don’t
Like I don’t like LaMelo at all and don’t really think you can win with him, but at the same time he’s helped rejuvenate the franchise a bit
Huh? Why now?
They have no assets left but Lamelo on the Heat would be fun.
Lamelo in Miami would also end his career.
am I missing something? why would they trade Lamelo when they are finally good again and suck ass without him?
Wow I’m stunned the Hornets have the balls to make this very correct move of selling high on a talented but unserious clown.
He’s just too silly for deep playoff runs. They’d find themselves in the second round dealing with the fallout of him running over an endangered animal that he bought on eBay or some similar bullshit.
Holy shit we’re getting Melo and Ant
All the good will I have in this new organization depends on this
This would be the offseason shocker
Why??
also I would actually fuck with the hornets a little bit if this happened.
Kinda shocking tbh
Damn you Shams, name the teams
Hornets don’t want to pay Lamelo anymore? Extension coming up and he had a great season…
Nets! Get on it! Idgaf we just drafted a guard.
WTF
Holy shit, he makes it sound like Lamelo’s gone in the next couple days
Just like Jaylen Brown a few days ago, but here we are.
But they actually did try to trade him tho. Milwaukee declined
Aint no way. They finally started to not suck, I call bs. Like sure, if someone is willing to trade like 4 frp they have plus a top 3 pick in this year’s draft, than maybe I see it but right now? Nah.
Charlotte is so unserious if they do this
what in the actual fuck??
He probably asked out
This would be dumb by the hornets. I get that he’s not great in the locker room but he’s a good player. This is not a Ja/trae situation, he just took them to their best season in years as their best player.
Fox for Lamelo
Yikes
Pistons
Sell High on LaMelo🤔🤔🤔
No go back to making Ant the next guy to get traded
Why would Hornet even do this?
Why do I feel like it’s us
The Hornets drafted LaMelo’s replacement and we didn’t even realize lmao
They are saying Minnesota or Toronto are both teams that are pursuing the deal. Neither has anything I would want back if I’m Charlotte. Toronto ain’t giving up Barnes in return and only players I would want on Minnesota is Ant himself so, naw I’m good.
He played 72 games this past season and they still only made the play in. I think it’s clear they view Kon and Miller as the future of the team. I think they’re going to re-sign White and try to acquire a post player.
Melo has been traded to Minnesota apparently.