LaMelo Ball lands among this Western Conference team's top trade targets on new list

LaMelo Ball and trade rumors have pretty much always been inseparable. Even with Charlotte Hornets head coach Charles Lee recently suggesting that LaMelo will be a Hornet for a long time, buzz persists about Melo's potential exit from Buzz City.

The latest discourse comes from Bleacher Report's NBA writer Dan Favale, who listed LaMelo at the top of the Portland Trail Blazers' theoretical trade targets in a new list published Wednesday. (By the way, Hornets guard Collin Sexton was also among Favale's three Blazers targets).

Bleacher Report's Dan Favale sees LaMelo Ball as a top trade target for the Portland Trail Blazers

LaMelo Ball this season:

18.9 PPG
6.1 RPG
8.9 APG
38/28/87 Splits
49.9 TS%

He’s shooting under 40% (39.8) from the field over his last 60 career games pic.twitter.com/ghkqiovLpC
— 🎞 (@PeakRT_) December 2, 2025

"Concerns about whether LaMelo takes basketball seriously enough are overblown," Favale wrote. "Even if they're true, the Blazers have an all-galaxy mentor in Damian Lillard to keep him engaged. Tack on LaMelo's capacity to hit jumpers off the ball and his team-friendlier max, and he's someone who can considerably elevate Portland's place and sustainability in the league's pecking order."

Favale actually makes some compelling points. Additionally, LaMelo is the same age (24) as Portland's young stud wing, Deni Avdija.

None of Portland's top-three scorers -- Avdija, Shaedon Sharpe, and Jerami Grant -- would be redundant with Melo or eat into his production, because they are more wing-oriented, while LaMelo starts most of his actions from the top of the key as a lead guard. The basketball fit is there.

It's easy to imagine LaMelo connecting with Donovan Clingan and Robert Williams III as lob threats (much like he does in Charlotte with Ryan Kalkbrenner and Moussa Diabaté), and while Favale mentioned Lillard as a mentor, Jrue Holiday might be an even more appropriate name to mention in that regard, as Holiday could help improve LaMelo's defense.

Wait, this is beginning to sound like a really good fit. The question is, why would the Hornets trade LaMelo right now, and what would Portland be offering in return that would be enticing enough to consider in the eyes of Charlotte's president of basketball operations, Jeff Peterson?

I’m still a LaMelo Ball believer
— Slightly Biased (@BiasedSlightly) November 21, 2025

A straight-up swap of Lamelo for Grant works financially, but it's unclear how that greatly improves the Blazers, unless they're over the moon about LaMelo (and sick of Scott Henderson).

The Hornets appear committed to riding out the Melo-Brandon Miller-Kon Knueppel trio until at least a much bigger sample size has been gathered. A trade involving Ball this season would therefore be surprising, but keep Portland in the back of your mind if the dynamic in Charlotte's front office shifts over the next 12-24 months.

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