The Hornets only have one untradeable player according to Bill Simmons

Which Hornet is unequivocally unavailable?

Jan 12, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller (24) against the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Charlotte Hornets aren't a contender right now, and they're also not a super young team with a ton of recent draft picks that are getting better and better every year. As a result, there aren't too many players that are probably wholly off-limits in trade talks.

According to NBA analyst Bill Simmons, the Hornets only have one such player: Brandon Miller. Charlotte arguably has three main pieces that they're probably going to try to build around. Miller is one of them, but so are LaMelo Ball and Mark Williams.

Both of them showed up with Miller on Simmons' Trade Value Rankings on The Ringer. Williams was labeled one of the "Toughest Omissions". This seems to mean that there's probably interest in them from contending teams, but the Hornets aren't likely to take calls. He's in that tier with Donovan Clingan, Anthony Black, Rob Dillingham, and Benedict Mathurin for reference.

Moving down the list, which means a little less likely to be traded, Ball is in the "If You Tell Shams, I'll Deny It to the Death... but I Am Absolutely, Unequivocally, 100% Listening" tier. He was ranked 41st among all trade assets, which puts him one place outside a tier with an expletive in it that essentially means the player is unavailable.

Miller landed 22nd and firmly in the "Budding Franchise Guys" tier. He's right there with Karl-Anthony Towns (who ironically just got traded), Tyrese Maxey, Ja Morant, Tyrese Haliburton, Jalen Johnson, and Chet Holmgren. He's also only three spots away from the "Only If They Made Us Do It" tier.

Simmons clearly thinks highly of Miller, but he's also not down on Ball like some other media personnel are. There have been tons of Ball mock trades, mostly to the Los Angeles Lakers, but Simmons seems to think that a Ball trade is pretty unlikely. It's just a bit more likely than a Miller trade at this point.

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