Bill Simmons floated a LaMelo Ball trade idea, but it makes zero sense for Charlotte

What will the Charlotte Hornets do with LaMelo Ball?

That's been a question that everyone in the industry has asked for the last two to three years. A combination of the team's inability to become a contender in the East, along with his long injury history have everyone of the belief that it's just a matter of time before the two part ways.

NBA insider Bill Simmons threw out a rather surprising trade suggestion on his podcast earlier this week, shipping LaMelo out west.

“What about LaMelo and Harden in a deal together? If you’re Charlotte, and you like your team… You struck oil with Knueppel, and Brandon Miller is back, and (Miles) Bridges is good, and you’re in the East, and you’re not going to be one of the three worst teams in the East. There’s just no scenario where you’re going to be in the bottom three. Your team has too much talent. What if you just turned LaMelo into Harden, and now you have Harden, Knueppel, Bridges, Brandon Miller, and some big guys? Maybe you just do that, over riding this LaMelo roller coaster for a minute more. And if you’re the Clippers, Melo, a change of scenery. He’s one of the most famous players in the league under 30. I think he has the biggest social media other than LeBron. It changes your team.”

For the Clippers, I think they'd do this in a heartbeat. Harden isn't getting any younger, and they're not going anywhere this season, currently sitting with a 6-20 record. If you're going to have a big contract on the books, it might as well be someone who has a lot of basketball in front of them and whom you can build around.

For Charlotte? Absolutely not. In what way does this trade improve the Hornets? You'd be trading arguably the face of the franchise for a 36-year-old, ball-dominant guard who has a cap hit of $39.1 million

Zach Lowe, who was on the podcast with Simmons, wondered the same thing, asking why Charlotte would be interested in doing that deal. His response? Basically, a salary dump situation where they can get LaMelo off the books before his trade value tanks with the assumption that the injury trouble would continue.

I'm sorry, but even if the goal is to get his contract off the books, you have to bring back a more intriguing package than James Harden, who clearly doesn't fit this team's timeline. If a deal is made, it needs to be for a couple of players who can match his salary and draft compensation.

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