How Hornets must use $40.8 million trade exception after LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges deals

The Charlotte Hornets became the analytical darling of the NBA world at around the midway point of the 2025-26 season, and for good reason. They were blitzing teams with an elite offense led by the exciting LaMelo Ball, and they nearly qualified for the playoffs outright — turning their season around as soon as the calendar flipped to 2026.

But then the Hornets decided to remodel their roster even though advanced metrics had their starting five of Ball, Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, and Moussa Diabate as not just one of the best five-man lineups in the NBA last season, but also in the history of the association.

In the early goings of the offseason, the Hornets already moved on from two of the members of that vaunted quintet, including two of the longest-tenured players in the franchise. Charlotte traded Ball (along with Josh Green) to the Minnesota Timberwolves for a package headlined by big man Naz Reid, and they followed that up with a trade of Bridges to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale.

It is quite jarring to see the Hornets trade Ball away, especially when he’s just about to be 25 years old at the start of next season. But trading away Ball and Bridges has given Charlotte a ton of roster flexibility and draft assets moving forward as they build their roster around the star wing duo of Knueppel and Miller.

Nonetheless, the Ball deal with Minnesota created a $40.8 million trade exception for the Hornets, which they can use for a year from the date the trade will be finalized. This could make them a major player on the market for an upgrade, should they decide to go that route.

Important to note: Brandon Miller is up for an extension

Maintaining cap flexibility is a huge deal for NBA teams in this current CBA landscape, as the punishment for diving deep into the luxury tax is rather massive. The second apron has made it difficult for teams to sustain their young cores, as those tend to get expensive really quickly after the rookie contracts of young stars expire.

For the Hornets, they must have seen the writing on the wall. Miller, the second overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft, is going to be up for a huge contract extension, and considering that Charlotte just gave up two of its most recognizable/longest-tenured players, it’s safe to say that the front office is looking at him as their franchise cornerstone for the long haul.

They may have freed up some significant space with the departures of Ball and Green, but the trade of Bridges for Allen and O’Neale already ate into that space. Miller’s future extension is going to take up even more space of their future cap sheet, which suggests that Charlotte may not be as big of a player on the trade market as the $40.8 million trade exception they created would suggest.

Miller’s max contract can be worth up to $251 million over five years. He may not get as much as that, but the final figure shouldn’t be too far away from that value. He would basically just take up the salary spot allotted for Ball, so Hornets fans may want to temper their expectations. Diabate will also be up for a new contract, so Charlotte will need to take that into account as well.

Nonetheless, if the Hornets do want to make a splash to try and win now, here are two players Charlotte could realistically target.

Hornets beef up big man rotation even further with Myles Turner addition

The Hornets are reportedly in the trade market for a big man, with Domantas Sabonis being mentioned as a potential target for Charlotte. But someone who makes more sense for them, basketball-wise, is Sabonis’ former frontcourt mate when he was with the Indiana Pacers in Myles Turner.

It’s not quite clear if the Bucks will be willing to trade Turner away when they don’t control their first-round pick for next season (the New Orleans Pelicans own swap rights). With the pieces they got from the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade, making it to the playoffs as a lower-seed could be in the cards for Milwaukee.

It’s not like the Hornets desperately need to bring a big man in. Diabate was excellent last season in his role as the clean-up guy on the boards, and him being a lob threat and a speedy big man opened the floor up so much for Charlotte.

Turner is perhaps Diabate’s antithesis as a player, but having different dimensions might be helpful for a Hornets team that just lost its best playmaker. Turner can reliably space the floor, and he’s a much more accomplished rim protector than Diabate. He just might find the rhythm he lost when he joined Milwaukee should the Hornets bring him in and deploy him in their breakneck system.

The catch, however, is that Turner still has three years left on his deal worth a total of around $84 or so million. That may not fit the Hornets front office’s long-term plans. But they can fit his $26.5 million salary for next season quite easily into their trade exception, making him an option.

Charlotte brings home Malik Monk in salary dump

The Hornets have prioritized getting future assets in the Ball/Bridges trades. They got the Timberwolves’ unprotected 2033 first-round pick (along with a slew of pick swaps) in the Ball deal, while they also got the Suns’ 2033 first-round pick in the Bridges trade.

Perhaps using their trade exception to facilitate a salary dump could be the best use of the Hornets’ time. They can just about absorb any contract in the NBA with that $40.8 million trade exception, provided other teams make it worth their while.

Maybe the Sacramento Kings would be inclined to trade away Malik Monk in a salary dump deal after dangling him on the market for so long and not finding any takers.

Monk has two more years left on his contract ($20.2 million for the 2026-27 season, a player option worth $21.6 million for the 2027-28 campaign), and maybe the Hornets could take on him, get some picks from the Kings, and rehabilitate Monk’s value in the process.

The 28-year-old began his career in Charlotte, and perhaps he could revive his career with a return to where it all began.

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