Hornets rumors: The guard not named LaMelo Ball whose trade buzz is getting louder

The market for talented yet flawed point guards is busier than ever, even after the Atlanta Hawks decided to end the Trae Young era on a whimper and trade him for spare parts in CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. The likes of Ja Morant and LaMelo Ball could soon see more interest on the trade market, but for the Charlotte Hornets guard, it’s going to take a godfather offer to make the Hornets even consider trading Ball away.

Ball has had plenty of ups and downs in his career, and his ankle is always at risk of being injured. But the Hornets know how electric of a player he is when he’s at his best, like he was on Thursday night when he drilled nine of his 17 three-point attempts to finish with 30 points in a huge win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

However, another Hornets guard could easily be had, especially when he just arrived on the team this past offseason in a salary dump of sorts.

“We’ll start with Collin Sexton (as the likeliest guard to get traded),” ClutchPoints NBA insider Brett Siegel said on the Clutch Scoops show with Tomer Azarly. “I think that there’s certainly a market there. He’s in the final year of his contract making $18 million. He can help a contending team right now. There’s really no reason for the Hornets to hold on to him.”

“It doesn’t appear as if Sexton will be a part of Charlotte’s future moving forward. … I think that his market will heat up over the course of the next two weeks.”

Morant? Kuminga? Latest NBA intel with @TomerAzarly and @BrettSiegelNBA — Clutch Scoops 1/15/2025 https://t.co/IOQoGwlmbK

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 15, 2026

Can Hornets get anything for Collin Sexton?

Sexton doesn’t have much value around the league, as he’s in the final year of his contract making him a rental. It’s hard to envision many teams lining up to give up even second-round picks for the Hornets guard.

On the season, Sexton is averaging 15.2 points and 4.1 assists, so he can definitely provide some scoring punch for a winning team. But teams may prefer to wait him to reach the buyout market instead.

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