2. The Charlotte Hornets may be open to trading Terry Rozier
All of the above sounds great if you’re a Los Angeles Lakers fan, but the million-dollar question is why the Hornets would even trade Rozier?
The answer could be as simple as salary cap considerations.
The Hornets are clearly building for the future. They possess Rookie of the Year LaMelo Ball, who had a much stronger rookie season than his older brother Lonzo.
The team also has promising young players such as Miles Bridges, Devonte’ Graham and Malik Monk.
Monk will be a free agent this offseason, while Bridges and Graham will be free agents next summer.
With the Hornets having already given Gordon Hayward a huge contract, and with them still on the hook for Nicolas Batum, whose contract they stretched using the stretch provision, they may not be willing or able to pay Rozier next summer.
To avoid losing him for nothing as a free agent in 2022, it may behoove Charlotte to move him soon to get some kind of a return.