Hornets' biggest trade deadline fear has been revealed

The NBA trade deadline is this Thursday, February 6. After the deadline passes, the mega deals that have come so fast and furious, like Luka Doncic to the Lakers and DeAaron Fox to the Spurs, will cease. The smaller deals, like Nick Richards leaving the Charlotte Hornets, will also cease.

That means the Hornets have a couple more days to figure out who's worth keeping and how to maximize the assets they have now. They could be pretty active with their role players assuming they get a little healthier soon. However, there's one big problem that Charlotte should be afraid of according to Bleacher Report.

That fear is that teams will prioritize future picks over current financial relief. Teams didn't care about that much in the past, but that's how the Oklahoma City Thunder got to be the best team in the West while also still owning so many other teams' first-round picks.

B/R's Grant Hughes provided an example, "Take the Milwaukee Bucks as an example. They could send Khris Middleton to the Hornets with their 2031 first-rounder, taking Bridges back. That'd make Milwaukee younger and more athletic, but the Bucks might simply decide they can't part with even a distant first for an upgrade."

This would give the Bucks more financial flexibility, but are they willing to part with that first-round pick? It is six years from now, but that's when Giannis Antetokounmpo will be 36 years old. Damian Lillard will be 40 if he's still with the Bucks.

That could end up being a valuable pick for the Bucks to reload following the Antetokounmpo years, and the front office might realize that. Other teams may have the same mindset, which limits Charlotte's ability to really reload at the deadline.

The only way to offset this fear is by making a true blockbuster. Teams would undoubtedly trade multiple first-round picks and wouldn't be worried about future assets if they could get LaMelo Ball. However, the Hornets trading Ball remains extremely unlikely even in an era where Luka Doncic was sold for little more than pocket change.

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