Charlotte Hornets 2025-26 trade value rankings

Ranking the 15 Hornets on standard NBA contracts from the least to most valuable.

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Bill Simmons, the godfather of NBA trade value rankings, has six rules when assessing the league's top trade assets.

Rule no. 1: Salaries matter
Rule no. 2: Age matters
Rule no. 3: Contract length matters
Rule no. 4: Happiness matters; so does durability
Rule no. 5: Bizarre real-life trades SHOULD affect the list
Rule no. 6: Concentrate on degrees

When attempting to rank the trade value of the Charlotte Hornets' 15 players on standard NBA contracts, only three (maybe four) of those rules apply: salaries, age, contract length, and, maybe, bizarre real-life trades.

This exercise was as difficult as it has ever been.

The youth movement in Charlotte is in full effect as Jeff Peterson's staff has all but stripped the roster of 30-years-and-older veterans, and the young players it has acquired via the draft and shrewd trades are all generally playing well.

The difficultly in ranking these 15 players lies in the middle of the aging out benchwarmers and the intriguing young prospects. How will opposing teams value Miles Bridges and his $20+ million a year salary? What about LaMelo Ball, the oft-injured, impossibly-talented, highly-compensated, one-of-one offensive engine?

I did my best to answer those questions below. Let's dive in to the 2025-26 Charlotte Hornets trade value rankings.

Tier Six: The Vet Min

15. Mason Plumlee (35-years-old -- one-year, $2.2 million)

If Plumlee were to be traded between now and February, it would solely be for accounting purposes. His league-minimum $2.2 million salary can easily be thrown into a larger deal to match salaries or alleviate a roster crunch, but no opposing team in the league will be looking to acquire his services for a meaningful on-court role.

Although Plumlee has been serviceable in his limited floor time this season, there are far better options on the open market for franchises looking to acquire a center upgrade.

Tier Five: Veterans on non-expiring deals

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14. Tre Mann (24-years-old -- three years, $24 million)

Mann inked a three-year, $24 million contract this summer that includes a club option in year three. At the time, the deal was widely celebrated in Charlotte as Mann looked to be an ascending talent in his first half-season as a member of the Hornets.

However, he has struggled out of the gates in 2025-26 and is currently sidelined with a knee injury. While the 24-year-old ball handler may still have a bright future ahead of him, the extra year(s) on his contract will lower league-wide interest as the majority of trade deadline deals are centered around players on expiring contracts.

13. Grant Williams (27-years-old -- two years, $27 million)

Williams' value is difficult to parse because he hasn't played basketball since November of 2024. Any team acquiring Williams this season is taking a major gamble on his availability, making it unlikely that he has much trade cache across the NBA landscape.

Besides, he is local to the Queen City and has more value to Charlotte as a leader and franchise figure head than any other city in the NBA. Williams should be the long-term driver of culture in the Hornets' building and I don't see the organization moving him as a piece in a larger deal.

12. Miles Bridges (27-years-old -- two years, $47 million)

It's difficult for me to imagine a world in which Miles Bridges is coveted by a rival franchise. On top of the obvious off-court issues, Bridges is a difficult piece to squeeze into a winning environment.

He's a solid on-ball option on both ends of the floor that can punish mismatches on offense while playing adequate defense against a variety of players, but Bridges' struggles off-the-ball can't be denied. He has far too many inattentive, ball-watching moments on defense and isn't a strong enough shooter to open up driving lanes with his gravity.

Combine that with $47.8 million he is owed over the next two years and it makes Bridges a supremely difficult player to slide into a mock trade.

11. Josh Green (25-years-old -- two years, $28 million)

Green's game is made for the modern NBA playoffs.

He is a low-usage, high-efficiency, defensively-minded wing that can play a malleable role for a contender. He's due $13.6 million in 2025-26 and $14.6M the following year, which won't break the bank, but in the penny-pinching second-apron era, a team adding Green's salary better be sure that he is the missing piece that will unlock another gear come May/June.

He becomes significantly more valuable in the summer when the league calendar flips to the final year of his contract, making him a two-way presence on a expiring contract, so expect him vault up these rankings come June.

Tier Four: The Rentals

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10. Pat Connaughton (33-years-old -- one-year, $9.4 million)

Connaughton slides in above Bridges and Green strictly for contractual reasons.

His $9.4 million expiring deal is likely desirable across the league. Connaughton still has some juice left in his bouncy legs, evidenced by his strong play as a depth piece in Charlotte before he was injured. In addition, his salary is both cheap enough and short enough to qualify as a mercenary, shot-making rental for a contending team.

9. Collin Sexton (27-years-old -- one-year, $18.9 million)

If I were to rank these players by how likely they are to be traded, Sexton would be at the top of the list. He's a primary ball handler on an expiring contract that could be of major value to a team that needs to add some juice to their bench for a playoff run. He's in the final year of a deal that pays him $18 million in 2025-26 that is extremely palatable for a team with championship expectations.

Teams like Atlanta, New York, Golden State, Houston, Minnesota, and Milwaukee are all suitors for a player of Sexton's ilk.

Tier Three: LaMelo Ball

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8. LaMelo Ball (24-years-old -- four years, $166 million)

Ball's trade value is as low as it ever has been.

How would an opposing franchise sell themselves on paying $40+ million a year over the next four seasons for a guy who can't stay healthy?

The talent is indelible and there is a world in which the Charlotte Hornets would rue the day they moved on from a player of LaMelo Ball's caliber, but the risk that comes with acquiring a hooper with as many questions marks as Ball knocks him down a few pegs on this trade value list.

I haven't wavered off of my belief that the best outcome for both parties is that Charlotte trades Ball, but coming up with a logical trade while considering the context that has shrouded LaMelo's career is supremely difficult.

Tier Two: The Young Guns

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7. Tidjane Salaun (20-years old -- three years, $25 million)
6. Liam McNeeley (20-years-old -- four years, $14 million)
5. Moussa Diabate (24-years-old -- two years, $4 million)
4. Ryan Kalkbrenner (24-years-old -- four-years, $10 million)
3. Sion James (23-years-old -- four years, $10 million)

It's going to take a massive upgrade in talent for the Hornets to trade any of these talented young players that they have acquired in recent years. The rankings within this tier don't matter too much - they all carry the same relative value due to their obvious talents and contractual status.

Each player in this group, to varying degrees, has strung together moments of high-end play in valuable roles that point to future success in Charlotte. The Hornets have amassed this solid core of ancillary pieces that will supplement the Queen City's crown jewel whenever one emerges (Ball, Brandon Miller, or Kon Knueppel?) or Jeff Peterson cashes in his chips (which may include a player or two in this group) to acquire one.

Tier One: The Face(s) of the Franchise

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2. Brandon Miller (23-years-old -- two years, $26 million)
1. Kon Knueppel (20-years-old -- four years, 45 million)

It didn't take long for Kon Knueppel to usurp Brandon Miller (and LaMelo Ball for that matter) at the top of the Hornets' trade value rankings.

Miller's injury-riddled campaign has been disappointing to say the least, but if you look past the ugly box scores and watch the former first-team All-Rookie wing closely, he still looks like the type of two-way wing worth building a team around. Once Miller's shot begins to fall (every past indicator and his current free throw percentage tells me it will), the consternation shrouding him right now will subside.

Kon is a 10-year vet in a 20-year-old's body and is the best thing going in Charlotte right now. His three-level scoring touch and impressive defensive acumen have vaulted him into national 'top 25 under 25 rankings' faster than a Knueppel catch-and-shoot release.

He's under team control until 2028-29 and he will not be going anywhere at this rate.

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