Hornets Discussing LaMelo Ball With Wolves, Raptors, Others - HoopsRumors.com

11:18 pm: Within their full report on the Ball trade rumors, Stein and Fischer (Substack link) cite league sources who say the Bucks have also registered interest in the Hornets star. Fischer clarifies in a tweet that Milwaukee’s interest dates back to before the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade, so it’s unclear if the Bucks would still pursue Ball at this time. The duo classifies the Timberwolves’ interest as “undeniably serious,” but says Minnesota wants to keep Jaden McDaniels off limits and would prefer to “do right” by DiVincenzo by not trading him while he recovers from an Achilles tear. 10:06 pm: The Hornets are engaged in trade talks regarding LaMelo Ball, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter video link). He states that multiple teams are “strongly” pursuing the star point guard. Charania adds that some teams are making “aggressive” offers, and there’s a real chance that Ball could be moved as soon as this week if anybody is willing to meet Charlotte’s asking price. Marc Stein of The Stein Line identifies the Timberwolves and Raptors as two of the suitors with interest in acquiring Ball (Twitter link). The Stein Line’s Jake Fischer adds that Ball has been looking forward to the upcoming season in Charlotte after leading the team into the play-in tournament this spring, but Fischer confirms that the trade rumors are real (Twitter link). One option for the Wolves would be to expand the three-team trade that is sending Julius Randle to Brooklyn, states Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Twitter link). They’ll need to do a 100% salary match in order to avoid a first-apron hard cap, which Gozlan suggests could be accomplished by including injured guard Donte DiVincenzo. From there, it would be a matter of adding young players and draft assets to satisfy the Hornets. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype confirms that Toronto and Minnesota are among the teams pursuing Ball (Twitter link), adding that the Raptors first expressed their interest in a trade last summer and recently renewed talks with Charlotte. After dealing with injuries and inconsistency during his first five NBA seasons, Ball is coming off one of the best campaigns of his career. His scoring numbers declined to 20.1 points per game as he deferred to teammates more often, but he proved that he can be a reliable on-court leader for a winning team. That quality, combined with his spectacular offensive skills, keeps him in demand around the league, especially among teams that need point guard help. The Wolves are looking for a ball-handler to take some of the offensive load off Anthony Edwards, and the Raptors would like to upgrade at the position from Immanuel Quickley. Ball has three seasons left on his current contract, so any team that trades for him will get a measure of security. He will make $40.8MM next season, $43.6MM in 2027/28 and $46.4MM in 2028/29.