Should the Charlotte Hornets sit out the NBA trade deadline?

In five seasons as a member of the Charlotte Hornets, LaMelo Ball has yet to make the NBA playoffs.

Sure, he led the team to a pair of Play-In tournaments in 2021 and 2022. The results were lopsided in the favor of Charlotte's opponents, and even if they had won one of those two games, they would have had to win another before getting overmatched in the first round of the big boy playoffs.

It's time for Ball, and his talented young teammates, to get a taste of the bright lights of the NBA playoffs, which means they need to stand pat at the trade deadline next month.

Cade Cunningham credits immense growth to playoff experience

Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) dribbles defended by Charlotte Hornets guard Sion James (4) — Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

After a recent blowout win against the New York Knicks, Cade Cunningham spoke to assembled media about how this group of Pistons' first experience in a playoff setting catapulted their young core to the top of the Eastern Conference in 2025-26.

"A playoff series give you so much experience in itself. As far as controlling the emotions of it, controlling the runs, there's so many things that go into it. And all of those things, I think we grew from, and that has made us a better team this year."

Cunningham's comment has years of anecdotal data to back it up.

In 2024, the Oklahoma City Thunder lost a six-game second-round series to the Dallas Mavericks, before leveling up the next year and winning an NBA title.

In 2022, the Boston Celtics nearly climbed the mountain, falling to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, before finally finishing the champion's journey with a title just two years later.

In order to taste the ultimate glory of winning an NBA championship, teams first need to get seasoned by the grind that is the NBA playoffs. Ball was once considered in the same tier of superstar as Cunningham and Tyrese Haliburton, but those two have lapped Ball in comparison conversations due to their team's overall success.

LaMelo's situation in Charlotte has been objectively worse than theirs, no doubt, but the quickest way for Ball to squash the narrative that he isn't a winning player is to do what Cunningham and Haliburton have done in recent years.

Win.

Right now, him and his teammates are doing just that.

Since Ball returned from a bone bruise to his ankle on December 18th, the Hornets boast a top ten net rating in the league. Zoom in to a more recent timeline, and you'll find that the Charlotte Hornets have the best net rating in the league over the last two weeks.

Triumphs in Oklahoma City, Los Angeles, and Utah make it clear that the talent level of this group when fully healthy is clearly playoff-caliber, and sending out pieces for future assets at the trade deadline is the only thing that can stunt their growth from now until the season ends in April.

Collin Sexton, Tre Mann, Josh Green, and Pat Connaughton are potentially coveted trade targets for rival franchises. Trading one for some additional flexibility this summer is fine, but moving multiple pieces and gutting the Hornets' depth would be detrimental to a playoff push, which I believe is key for this team in their developmental arc.

Jeff Peterson has spoken about not skipping steps on their way to building a consistent playoff contender, and the critical step that needs to happen first is making the playoffs one time.

Ball, Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, and the rest of the Hornets' 25-and-under core would benefit immensely from getting battle-tested in a playoff setting, and their window to do so is now wide open.

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