Hornets Trading Both First-Round Picks for a Veteran Feels Unlikely

It was an incredible jump that we saw from the Charlotte Hornets in 2025-26, increasing their win total by 25, which was the second-highest mark of anyone in the league, behind only the San Antonio Spurs.

After seeing that much improvement in one year, it can be easy for a GM or a front office to get giddy and perhaps a bit impatient, wanting to flip the switch to contender when they may not be quite ready to do so.

Hornets President of Basketball Operations Jeff Peterson has stuck to his guns throughout this whole process, continuing to be patient and not skip steps. He's this far into it, so he's not going to start going off track now.

Here in the last handful of days, that commitment to the plan has shown through as the Hornets were reported to be in trade talks with the Sacramento Kings regarding veteran big man Domantas Sabonis.

Recently, respected NBA insider Zach Lowe added that Charlotte was not comfortable giving up draft picks to get a deal done.

"The Sabonis/Charlotte thing, it's definitely true that there were talks and it's definitely true that Charlotte was like, 'No, thank you. If you want picks, you're not getting picks.'"

🎙️ @ZachLowe_NBA: "The Sabonis/Charlotte thing, it's definitely true that there were talks and it's definitely true that Charlotte was like, 'No, thank you. If you want picks, you're not getting picks.'" pic.twitter.com/MK07RIZnBI
— r/CharlotteHornets (@HornetsReddit) June 15, 2026

Does this rule out using the picks to trade for a veteran big?

Not necessarily. If the right trade presents itself, Peterson will make it happen. But then again, who is truly going to be available at the price of the 14th and 18th picks in the draft? That's a limited pool of players. While a guy like Sabonis would certainly make the Hornets better, it's not worth the value of giving up one of those picks, let alone both.

If the Hornets were to package both picks, it's more likely that they would do so to move up in the draft. And who knows? Maybe they come together with Sacramento in that vein, who is in clear rebuild mode and could see the value of moving back from seven to get another first-rounder in a deep draft.

With just one year of competitive basketball and the Eastern Conference set to be stronger in 2026-27, Peterson may want to give this thing another year to marinate before pushing his chips to the center of the table. Why trade a first-rounder for a veteran who just makes you a little better when you can wait and pull off something bigger a year from now?

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