LaMelephant: The LaMelo Ball Thread (#2)

Snidely FC · Post #1841 » by **Snidely FC** » Wed Dec 17, 2025 2:39 pm

Simmons wants to trade LaMelo, Lowe wants to keep him. Highlight: LaMelo for Harden would be a salary dump

JustBuzzin · Post #1842 » by **JustBuzzin** » Wed Dec 17, 2025 3:14 pm

LaMelo for Harden is interesting...

The only issue with that is Harden would definitely kill our chances at a lottery pick.

Feels like Harden/Kon/Miller/Bridges/Kalk is competing for a play in spot rather than a top 5 pick.

LofJ · Post #1843 » by **LofJ** » Wed Dec 17, 2025 3:30 pm

If the team trades LaMelo to the Clippers for Harden there better be a wink, wink deal in place with the league office to get a top 3 pick in the draft.

Post #1844 » by **JDR720** » Wed Dec 17, 2025 3:36 pm

Harden makes no sense here, he'd demand a trade the second we got him.

Post #1845 » by **yosemiteben** » Wed Dec 17, 2025 3:48 pm

We're not going to trade Melo for 36 year old James Harden. What would be the point?

EmpireFalls · Post #1846 » by **EmpireFalls** » Wed Dec 17, 2025 3:53 pm

Snidely FC wrote:Simmons wants to trade LaMelo, Lowe wants to keep him. Highlight: LaMelo for Harden would be a salary dump

Read on Twitter

This is so stupid I don’t even know where to begin

He says we need to trade him before LaMelo’s value might go down, so the solution is to dump him for 36 year old Harden and no picks… when we’re clearly rebuilding and trying to angle for a top pick this summer…

Why are everyone’s brains completely broken on LaMelo Ball?

JMAC3 · Post #1847 » by **JMAC3** » Wed Dec 17, 2025 4:34 pm

LaMelo Ball is our most talented player, wants to be in Charlotte and people are dying to trade him for old players who don't want to be here and will be gone at the end of the year. Harden has a PO next year, he isn't picking that up to play in Charlotte.

People are so desperate to trade LaMelo as if he is our biggest problem and getting rid of him solves everything.

Meanwhile Mark Williams has played 22 games for Phoenix and been awesome. Thank god we got rid of him, he was a huge issue now that we start Kalkbrenner the team is so much better... oh wait we aren't.

JMAC3 · Post #1848 » by **JMAC3** » Wed Dec 17, 2025 4:39 pm

Hornets Fans "LaMelo never plays, we would be better off without him. Get me someone who can play 82 games idc who"

Miles Bridges plays almost every night
Same Hornets Fans "Get Bridges off my team, anyone would be better than this"

Post #1849 » by **yosemiteben** » Wed Dec 17, 2025 5:27 pm

JMAC3 wrote:Hornets Fans "LaMelo never plays, we would be better off without him. Get me someone who can play 82 games idc who"

Literally no one says this, wtf do you keep doing this?

JMAC3 · Post #1850 » by **JMAC3** » Wed Dec 17, 2025 5:34 pm

yosemiteben wrote:
JMAC3 wrote:Hornets Fans "LaMelo never plays, we would be better off without him. Get me someone who can play 82 games idc who"

Literally no one says this, wtf do you keep doing this?

There have been several occasions where this is basically what has been said lmao.

WTF are you the way you are lol

Chapelchilla · Post #1851 » by **Chapelchilla** » Wed Dec 17, 2025 5:38 pm

yosemiteben wrote:
JMAC3 wrote:Hornets Fans "LaMelo never plays, we would be better off without him. Get me someone who can play 82 games idc who"

Literally no one says this, wtf do you keep doing this?

Yep, never heard anyone say just get rid of Melo for table scraps.

Trading him for good healthier players and pick(s)?
We'll, if we were offered an interesting deal, you gotta consider it.

mg · Post #1852 » by mg » Wed Dec 17, 2025 5:39 pm

yosemiteben wrote:We're not going to trade Melo for 36 year old James Harden. What would be the point?

Agreed.

I'm an irrational Zubac fan so I'd take him back in any Clip deal but I'm guessing most other Hornet fans might want more. I think Zu is a top 5 center in the league though. I'd take him over Sabonis.

How about Zubac, Collins, and Bogdanovic for LaMelo + Bridges? That might be the only Clipper deal that would make sense...

Post #1853 » by **fatlever** » Wed Dec 17, 2025 5:41 pm

If you can't understand why some hornets fans want miles off the team, I don't know what to tell you.

We can appreciate miles' hustle and availability and sometimes streaky good play in a vacuum and still want him as far away from the franchise as possible for reasons unrelated to on-court play. It us possible for humans to have complex opinions that aren't binary yes or no. Stay or leave. Good or bad.

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mg · Post #1854 » by mg » Wed Dec 17, 2025 5:46 pm

Zach Lowe: "The Clippers have shoved away people calling because the vultures are circling with Zubac. And the Clippers are shoving people away." Bill Simmons: "I don't know if it's shoving. I think it's gentle pushing."

JMAC3 · Post #1855 » by **JMAC3** » Wed Dec 17, 2025 5:47 pm

fatlever wrote:If you can't understand why some hornets fans want miles off the team, I don't know what to tell you.

We can appreciate miles' hustle and availability and sometimes streaky good play in a vacuum and still want him as far away from the franchise as possible for reasons unrelated to on-court play. It us possible for humans to have complex opinions that aren't binary yes or no. Stay or leave. Good or bad.

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Yeah and I can make fun of the logic too.
Like complaining about how Miles is dumb and doesn't understand how to play team basketball... then 2 seconds later pitch trading him for Kuminga, who is labeled with that as his biggest issue.

For the most part, people just assume the grass is always greener on the other side for these players that they spend zero time watching.

JMAC3 · Post #1856 » by **JMAC3** » Wed Dec 17, 2025 5:51 pm

GiggitySmalls wrote:
wilson115 wrote:
GiggitySmalls wrote:The mental gymnastics some use to justify LaMelo's pressence on this team are pretty impressive. Ill admitt...it is indeed impressive....sheesh.

Trouble's they're getting pennies on the dollar if they look for a trade right now. Best way to rehab his value's putting a better team around him and FO's got a chance to do that on the cheap with two FRPs in a deep draft. Real reason to doubt they rush into anything until then regardless of our opinions on LaMelo.
But you could dumo melo and his contract take on smaller deals that are up sooner and move forward to bringing in talented point guard. Then you can see what we look like with s point guard on the floor with the roster. Because we can't do that with melo with any sort of consistency. If we had a good pg who played 75 games a year who wasn't melo, id be willing to bet the team woild look alot better. So basically dumping melo frees up a position on the roster to target and fill with talent, and pg is arguably the most important position in basketball. You gotta run the team. It starts with who you're running it with at the 1.

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but yes nobody has said anything close to that....

Just using the words "Dump LaMelo" "if we had a pg who played 75 games a year who wasn't Melo"

Post #1857 » by **yosemiteben** » Wed Dec 17, 2025 5:58 pm

JMAC3 wrote:
GiggitySmalls wrote:
wilson115 wrote:Trouble's they're getting pennies on the dollar if they look for a trade right now. Best way to rehab his value's putting a better team around him and FO's got a chance to do that on the cheap with two FRPs in a deep draft. Real reason to doubt they rush into anything until then regardless of our opinions on LaMelo.
But you could dumo melo and his contract take on smaller deals that are up sooner and move forward to bringing in talented point guard. Then you can see what we look like with s point guard on the floor with the roster. Because we can't do that with melo with any sort of consistency. If we had a good pg who played 75 games a year who wasn't melo, id be willing to bet the team woild look alot better. So basically dumping melo frees up a position on the roster to target and fill with talent, and pg is arguably the most important position in basketball. You gotta run the team. It starts with who you're running it with at the 1.

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but yes nobody has said anything close to that....

Just using the words "Dump LaMelo" "if we had a pg who played 75 games a year who wasn't Melo"

So you're responding to one post from one guy?

Stereotyping "Hornets Fans" as a whole because of this one post?

Walt Cronkite · Post #1858 » by **Walt Cronkite** » Wed Dec 17, 2025 6:02 pm

I'm not really interested in tracking back through the thread, but I do feel there has been a lot of "trade LaMelo for whatever we can get" sentiment by more than one poster. My perception could be wrong, because I do remember Giggity's post in particular, so maybe I'm misremembering more than that. I agree it's not fair to stereotype "Hornets fans" though.

JMAC3 · Post #1859 » by **JMAC3** » Wed Dec 17, 2025 6:04 pm

yosemiteben wrote:
JMAC3 wrote:
GiggitySmalls wrote:But you could dumo melo and his contract take on smaller deals that are up sooner and move forward to bringing in talented point guard. Then you can see what we look like with s point guard on the floor with the roster. Because we can't do that with melo with any sort of consistency. If we had a good pg who played 75 games a year who wasn't melo, id be willing to bet the team woild look alot better. So basically dumping melo frees up a position on the roster to target and fill with talent, and pg is arguably the most important position in basketball. You gotta run the team. It starts with who you're running it with at the 1.

Sent from my SM-S936U using RealGM mobile app

but yes nobody has said anything close to that....

Just using the words "Dump LaMelo" "if we had a pg who played 75 games a year who wasn't Melo"

So you're responding to one post from one guy?

Stereotyping "Hornets Fans" as a whole because of this one post?

Got it, so it went from and I quote "Literally no one says this, wtf do you keep doing this?" and telling me I am making stuff up and calling me F"ing annoying (yup, read the deleted post). To now me showing one example isn't good enough lol.

I mean other people have pitched trading
LaMelo for expirings and a lightly protected first.
Trading LaMelo for Jerami Grant and an injured bad Scoot Henderson. - which even the trade board made fun of how bad that deal was for LaMelo.

Along with others, so yeah I don't feel like combing through 10 more pages to find you more examples but yes the overall sentiment of trading LaMelo for virtually nothing and starting a Collin Sexton level player somehow makes us better is a good idea has been pitched by several posters over the past few weeks on the board- not just 1 poster.

JMAC3 · Post #1860 » by **JMAC3** » Wed Dec 17, 2025 6:10 pm

Also, maybe I am the only one on twitter consistently, but you will find a very large portion of Hornets fans who consistently are demanding we trade LaMelo because he never plays but at the same time feel the need to complain about Miles Bridges every night....

So yes "Hornets Fans" include more than the 40 people who consistently post on this board. More than the people on Twitter. It includes people I talk to in the city, people who sit around me when I when I attend the games...