Report: LaMelo Ball Wants Out of Charlotte

About to finish up his fifth season in the NBA without a sniff of the playoffs, and his 4th losing year out of five, LaMelo Ball could be ready to ask out of the Charlotte Hornets. Insider Michael Scotto says the superstar point guard wants to know what it's like to actually win in the NBA.

LaMelo Ball wants to be in a winning situation, per @MikeAScotto

“I touched on this with some of the other guys, and some executives around the league are looking at it too. If you were willing to part with Mark Williams—who’s 23 and pretty good, though he has some injury… pic.twitter.com/Prqh37Uctf
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 6, 2025

For LaMelo, he wants to win. This is now going to be his fifth season. How much longer does he see himself there? That’s what I’ve been told. And I’ll say this—at the end of the day, I also think not being an All-Star and not winning affected him. He had the numbers on paper, but Charlotte’s record hurt his chances. From what I’ve been told, he wants to win competitively.

'Melo has been an All-Star once, in 2022. But that was also his one fully healthy season in his five-year career. His 39 games played thus far this season represent his highest since that 2022 campaign.

Scotto says the Hornets have to be thinking about considering moving in a different direction as well.

"If you were willing to part with Mark Williams—who’s 23 and pretty good, though he has some injury concerns—the next logical thing would be to also look at LaMelo Ball. He’s on a max contract, and they’re not winning, obviously, for the foreseeable future".

Ball is averaging a career-high 26.2 points with 5.4 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game along with 1.2 steals. His three-point shooting is down, however, to a career-low 33.6%.

This will mark the Hornets' 9th straight season out of the playoffs, and they haven't won a round in the postseason in 23 years, since the 2001-02 season.