Lakers land LaMelo Ball in mock trade involving multiple assets ...

Things are snowballing in the wrong direction once again for the Charlotte Hornets and in the coming weeks, a handful of their veteran players will be linked to other teams in trade rumors. Cody Martin, Nick Richards, Miles Bridges, and Vasilije Micic are all potential trade candidates. One that is not up for discussion is star point guard and face of the franchise, LaMelo Ball.

Well, I guess anything is possible, but it would take a king's ransom for the Hornets to move off of the dynamic young guard. No matter how many times Jeff Peterson says no to other teams, executives around the league will likely give him a call every year at the trade deadline if the Hornets are well out of contention.

With the team at 7-27 and seemingly going nowhere, Ball will be featured in several mock trades, although none of them are likely to happen. Our colleagues at Los Angeles Lakers On SI recently put a mock trade together featuring Ball, and I have some thoughts on it. Below is the projected trade proposal.

Lakers receive: LaMelo Ball.

Hornets receive: Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent, Dalton Knecht, a 2029 first-round draft pick, a 2030 first-round draft pick swap, and a 2031 first-round draft pick.

The big issue with this trade is that it doesn't give the Hornets a high-level player in return. Hachimura is talented and would certainly help, but the Hornets don't need a young center to build around. Although he's dealt with some injuries early in his career, Charlotte isn't going to move off of Mark Williams. Dalton Knecht could be a good fit for Charles Lee's style of play, but how big of an impact can he make? What is his ceiling? That's still to be determined. The Hornets need someone who is more proven. Vanderbilt and Vincent offer very little but are thrown in for salary purposes.

As far as the two first-round picks and the first-round swap go, I'm not sure that moves the needle for Charlotte. I do think two to three firsts would pique Charlotte's interest, but not from the Lakers. L.A. is going to do everything in its power to be a finals contender, which means they aren't going to be picking toward the top of the draft. Those first-round picks aren't as attractive as they seem on paper.

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