The Hornets are expected to make forward Miles Bridges available in trade discussions in conjunction with this month’s draft, a move that puts the 2026/27 roster picture around LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller into immediate flux.
Bridges finished the 2025/26 season averaging 17.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 31.0 minutes per game, while shooting.460 from the field,.333 from three and.822 from the free‑throw line. He played in and started all 77 regular‑season games, and is entering the final year of the three‑year, $75 million deal he signed in 2024; his cap hit for 2026/27 is $22.8 million.
The Hornets carried Bridges through February’s trade deadline even as they discussed possible deals — including talks with the Milwaukee Bucks that involved Bobby Portis — and he was reported in January to have drawn legitimate interest from Milwaukee, Phoenix, Golden State and Detroit. Charlotte closed the regular season on a 33‑15 run but was eliminated in the play‑in tournament, and the front office has said its offseason work will focus on upgrading around Ball, Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel.
That immediate context is what makes the draft timing significant: the Hornets will be balancing the chance to convert Bridges into draft capital or veteran help against the reality that he arrives on an expiring, team‑friendly deal. His durability and scoring make him an attractive asset; his three‑point shooting and defensive profile, plus the weight of his off‑court history, are factors teams are explicitly weighing as part of any valuation.
The significant friction is Charlotte’s price. The team was said to be seeking at least one first‑round pick for Bridges, a threshold that quickly narrows the market. It remained unclear whether interested teams would meet that asking price — a sticking point that helps explain why Bridges stayed in Charlotte through the deadline despite visible interest and why the draft has become the focal point for renewed talks.
Hornets fans have mixed views: many say it would be prudent to entertain trade scenarios before discussing an extension, and a common thread in conversations is that if the franchise moves anyone from the core it should be the player with the expiring deal. Others have expressed the simple hope that Charlotte can find a return worth accepting so the franchise does not have to pursue the extension route.
The next milestone is straightforward: draft night. Teams that want Bridges will have to decide whether to surrender the first‑round capital Charlotte reportedly wants or let the Hornets enter the summer with him on the books for $22.8 million and an expiring 2026/27 season. The single unresolved question going into the draft is plain — will any team actually pay the price the Hornets are asking?
