The Los Angeles Lakers absolutely have the Charlotte Hornets on pace dial at this level.
Los Angeles would love so as to add LaMelo Ball as a 3rd star alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis, though the Hornets possible aren’t prepared to half with younger celebrity Ball beneath any circumstances.
Because the Lakers scan the remainder of the league for a goalie on the commerce market (Darius Garland, Jordan Poole and Cam Thomas are a number of gamers they will control), Los Angeles ought to preserve an in depth eye on the Ball’s swaggering backcourt associate. Charlotte, Tre Mann, 23 years outdated.
Mann seems to be taking an enormous step ahead this yr, his first full season with the Hornets after leaving the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder final February within the Gordon Hayward commerce.
Thunder common supervisor Sam Presti has already admitted that he regrets buying and selling for the now-retired Hayward, and with Mann now wanting glorious in Charlotte, that remorse in all probability stings all of the extra.
Mann opened the 2024-25 season with a bang. He scored 24 factors in Charlotte’s win over the Houston Rockets, going 4 of 8 from three. On Friday, Mann scored 17 because the Hornets narrowly missed an opportunity to go 2-0 with a five-point loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
Mann, a former No. 18 general choose (2021 NBA Draft), seems to be like a real bench scorer, the sort the Lakers would significantly profit from as they give the impression of being to change into a contender this season.
Mann is within the closing yr of his four-year, $14 million rookie contract. To accumulate Mann, Los Angeles could need to ship somebody like Jaxson Hayes to the Hornets, however that could possibly be a commerce price contemplating if Mann continues to appear to be this.
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