What If the Sacramento Kings Went All-In for LaMelo Ball? | Locked On Kings

What If the Sacramento Kings Went All-In for LaMelo Ball? | Locked On Kings

The Sacramento Kings need a new young star to lead their franchise. They also desperately need a point guard and someone who can help them remain competitive today while also giving them a promising tomorrow. Well, LaMelo Ball checks all three of those boxes, but could he possibly be available? Doug Branson, host of the Locked On Hornets podcast, joins me here to talk about just that on Locked on Kings. You are Locked on Kings, your daily Sacramento Kings podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. your team every day. And now, ladies and gentlemen, it is that time. Time for another episode of Locked On Kings. Hello and welcome into Locked on Kings, your podcast hub for Sacramento Kings coverage all off season long. My name is Matt George. I have the privilege of being your host here. I’m a Sacramento sports anchor and reporter for ABC 10 News. And LaMelo Ball has never been my favorite player. He’s never been towards the top of the list of of favorite players. I’ve always had my kind of reservations about LaMelo Ball, whether it was his personality and maturity as the leader and star of a franchise or his countless injury is issues, the fact that he has spent his entire career. Now, this isn’t exactly his fault, but he spent his entire career on a organization that has done next to nothing in terms of of winning. How much is that his fault and how much is that the fault of the the organization, right? Lamela Ballal has always been intriguing because he is such a unicorn type player, right? the the his size for a guard, but his skill with the basketball, his ability to to score, but also to uh facilitate and to run an offense. He’s somebody that I don’t know how safe of a bet it would be to acquire, but he’s somebody that if you’re the Sacramento Kings and you’re looking to check those three major boxes that I laid out there in that introduction, a young star to build around, someone to help you remain competitive right away, and a point guard, He he like he’s he’s very different from a Drew Holiday because of the the the youth factor. Now, he’s paid a lot of money, which the Kings would have to be aware of. And and if you’re acquiring LaMelo Ball and paying what is likely to be the high price to get the Charlotte Hornets to move on from LaMelo Ball, you are essentially taking the risk or investing in him, believing in him as the new number one guy for your franchise and are essentially taking the bet that he is more of a product of his environment, his success or lack of success teamwise in Charlotte has more to do with the Hornets and less to do with him. You’re also taking the risk of the countless ankle injuries that he’s dealt with over the course of his career. You’re you’re taking that all on your stand. I still believe that he can be a number one. And while Sacramento has never really been the most stable environment consistently, they have assets here and pieces here that you could add LaMelo Ball to where you have the opportunity for him to be more successful, more competitive right away than he ever was and really would be in Charlotte, at least at this point in time. I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s the right risk to take, but it’s somebody that if if if Scott Perry, New Kings GM, Scott Perry is looking at his options and keeping his options open and looking to build towards the future while also remaining competitive. One, because we know ownership wants to remain competitive. and two, the Sacramento Kings contractwise and and as of right now, the assets on their roster, they’re almost forced to remain competitive because of guys like Lavine and Sabonis on their roster. Two guys that more than likely would remain on this roster in any sort of LaMelo Ball trade this off season. I think it’s I think it’s intriguing. I think it’s something that if if you’re Scott Perry, you consider you you take a look at. It’s a different route than going like a older veteran guard like a Drew Holiday or other names that could be floated out or Russell Westbrook potentially who could be available. Russell would be significantly cheaper, but we’re talking about like an older veteran guard to add to this now old and not so promising core that the Sacramento Kings have have built for themselves. But could LaMelo Ball even is he even available? Could he possibly be available? What would it take to get Charlotte to be willing to move on from their star? I can’t answer these questions myself. So, I’m like, you know what, Doug? Doug Branson locked on Hornets. Hit him up said, “Hey, I don’t know if this is ever there’s no rumors of this happening. I don’t know if it’s possible, but let’s talk about it.” Doug was great with his time. He and I break down what a LaMelo ball trade could look like. kind of gives us an update on what the situation is in Charlotte, how willing they would be to trade him, and what kind of things that they would be most interested in in a LaMelo ball package from the Sacramento Kings. So, I hope you enjoy this conversation. Doug Branson from Locked on Hornets nice enough to stop by the Locked On podcast. two podcast hosts stuck in the sea of irrelevancy in two teams and two organizations that feel relatively directionless. But one area where I will give the Hornets the advantage over the Sacramento Kings, one, they’re in the Eastern Conference. And two, they at least have some young players that could potentially develop into something down the road. Sacramento Kings willingly said bye-bye to all of that and are stuck with the Chicago Bulls. But in the Western Conference version, Doug, we’re going to chat a little bit about something that I approached you with. Something that has, we can’t even call it been rumbling or rumored, just something that in Sacramento has been like, “Hey, that’s an idea. The Kings are looking to get younger. They’re looking for a new star slashcore player to build around because I don’t think Lavine and Sabonis do it for them or anybody. and they’re looking for a point guard, like desperately need a point guard. They have zero on this roster. LaMelo Ball checks all three of those boxes. Before we dive into the possible availability of LaMelo Ball and what it would take for the the Hornets to even consider moving on from him, where are the Hornets at? Just to give us an idea of like the direction of the Charlotte Hornets, where is this organization going? I know the draft lottery. Sorry to bring up a wound. The draft lottery was a pretty disappointing day. I think it was a disappointing day to be fair for a lot of teams. I mean, the Hornets actually got lucky that they landed. They they sort of It’s that action scene where the person’s falling off the cliff and they grabbed the final rock. That was the Hornets with the fourth pick while the Jazz and the Pelicans and the Wizards went flying over top of them. Uh they grabbed the final rock. So I, you know, I consider I consider the Hornets a little bit lucky in that respect. As far as LaMelo Ball goes and where they are, to me it’s difficult to say because I think everything that has been officially said by the organization and unofficially, you know, rumored to have been said uh about LaMelo Ball is that the Hornets are not interested in trading him. That they have received calls about him. They’ve received interest like, “Hey, what what do you guys think about LaMelo Ball?” So far they have said no thanks. That that’s a guy that we signed to a max contract and we think he has not just he’s already made an all-star game. We think he has all NBA potential. We think he has, you know, all all the potential in the world to be the the core of the core of this franchise. What makes it complicated, of course, is the size of the contract, the length of the contract, and the injuries. When you combine all of that together, uh what does that mean for a team that has not been to the playoffs in almost almost 10 years? What does it mean for a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff series in over 20 years? And how how long can they continue on with young players that have never even tasted what it means to be in the playoffs? and and how can you expect those players to grow and to become the full versions of themselves if you’re not equipped to do that right away? And I don’t think the Hornets are. So, I think you throw all that into a pot and you say it’s complicated. If I were the devil on the shoulder of the the the Charlotte Hornets, I would what I would be whispering in their ear essentially would be like, “You’re still so far away.” even with LaMelo on this roster, by the way, a very relatable scenario for the Sacramento Kings in so many ways. But like that’s where I would go. So why like what timeline are you hoping to execute where I mean it might take you getting to the very end of this contract with some more draft picks in there and and and proper development of the rest of the team to even get to a point where you’re winning basketball games with LaMelo. So, if an offer were presented to you that was that reset that timeline or gave you a brighter the potential of a brighter future or at least maybe more draft compensation or more options for a brighter future, maybe that would be the more appealing route to take. Is that wishful thinking from someone who’s trying to convince an organization to give up a star player? Or do you think there’s some thought there in Charlotte? Like, can we even execute a a a rebuild and and get back to the playoffs on LaMelo Ball’s contractual timeline? No, I think that fans are actually more confident in this organization’s ability to rebuild than they than they have been in a very long time. I think they had completely lost faith that Michael Jordan and Mitch Cupchack as general manager were interested in doing what it took and also had the right vision. I think Michael Jordan at some point got tired of being a basketball uh lead owner and wanted to go uh race cars and and now is doing that and and I’m sure he’s he’s very happy. Uh, but now you’ve got an ownership group that is invested in building a new practice facility downtown, which I think again is just like one of those things that says, “Hey, we’re invested. We want to make sure that when we have opportunities to make trades and convince players to stay or to sign contracts or to even sign players in free agency that we have the best facilities available. You have a general manager in Jeff Peterson who’s young uh but is well respected around the league and his time in Brooklyn and Atlanta. lots of connections and so far he has swung trades to move Terry Rosir and Gordon Hayward out of town and come back with lightly protected picks from the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks and so he has a little bit of a prey mindset in terms of building. So I would say like fans are hopeful that they can get out. The question is, do you do it with LaMelo or do you have to use LaMelo in order to to do that? And and a lot of that’s going to come down to what you think about Brandon Miller. Second season cut short by a wrist surgery. Do you think he’s actually uh more of a prototypical super wing star number one player on the team than even LaMelo is? The other question is with all of the injuries with the multiple ankle injuries on ankle injuries. His season actually this season was ended with both a surgery on his wrist that he injured at the uh tail end of his uh rookie campaign and then also another uh another procedure to deal with the after effects of some of these ankle injuries and surgeries is whatever curve after he won rookie of the year like whatever curve you imagined LaMelo’s career taking how much of that curve has been sort of blunted by the injuries, the lingering effects of the injuries, also the time that he has had to spend off the floor. You have to remember LaMelo came into the league raw, young, had not played college basketball, played overseas, uh, but was super talented, but he still is somebody that’s going to need constant and consistent coaching. Charles Lee, the current head coach of the Charlotte Hornets, has already said like it’s important for him to get his body right because there are things that we have to work on in terms of his game. He’s not a complete player. And so, yeah, I think all of that complicates the situation for Charlotte, but the fans are confident that that at least they’re thinking in the right direction. Well, that’s a polar opposite from Sacramento Kings fans who are now entering or ushering in a new front office that they’re hoping to be confident in, but I think the Kings fan base is kind of in a a state of like, prove it to me, right? And I feel a LaMelo Ball deal, while would cost a pretty penny, and we’ll probably get to that here in just a second, a LaMelo Ball deal might prove to this fan base that the Kings are still trying to be aggressive, but are trying to be smart about it. Like I said, LaMelo might be the the type of guy that could potentially kill the three major birds that the Kings have uh with with one stone. The Kings are also in a position, Doug, where they have guys on this roster, Keegan Murray, for example, that they would ideally not get rid of. But the Kings can’t look at anybody at this roster and and by any means say you’re untouchable or no, somebody this player is untouchable. Everybody should be and probably is available for the right price in Sacramento. I’m taking that mindset and applying that to Charlotte with the belief that it would be extremely difficult to get LaMelo Ball. But if you put an offer in front of Charlotte that they feel that they cannot refuse, it is possible. Do you think that is that fair? Yes, I think that’s fair. I I it’s all going to come down to what how quickly this franchise wants to compete and everything that they’ve voiced on the record is that they are taking a patient approach uh with this which came with a lot of groans from whatever is left of this fan base after so many years of losing because they heard that a lot from Michael Jordan and Mitch Cubchack and and there is a little bit of impatience uh a fair impatience but I think at the same time again. They’ve made enough moves where you go, “Okay, I can give you a little bit more of of a leash here to figure out how you’re going to move this thing in the right direction.” So, I think if they do hold to that, then I think if they’re going to move LaMelo Ball, it’s going to be for a package that is uh more about the future assets, whether that be young two-way players. I mean, this team is starved for wing defense, an impactful wing defense, like wing defense that can turn the other team over. I think, yeah, they’re star for shooting. Um, and obviously great. And then obviously like you’d love to bring back star power. I just don’t know that that it would even be the focus. I think it would be more about can we get the three uh or four picks depending on the protections necessary so that you could go back to the fan base and said look this was a hard decision. We know everyone loved LaMelo and he said all the right things and he did all the right things and he never tried to make a stink about things or force his way out. We just we felt like we had to do this in the best interest of the future of the franchise. They they can’t come at it with like one pick or two picks and Sabonis. That’s just not going to cut it, I don’t think. Um, so, so that I think would be the mindset, I would hope would be the mindset of the franchise. Today’s episode of the Lockdown Kings podcast is brought to you by Door Dash. NBA fans, you know what time it is. Playoff season means big performances and even bigger rewards. Door Dash is bringing the heat with a slam dunk deal for Dash Pass members throughout the entire 2025 NBA playoffs. It’s called They Swoosh, You Score. Anytime a player drops 50 or more points on a playoff game, Dash Pass members score a free threepiece crispy tenders combo from Wingstop the very next day. Just place an order of $20 or more. 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When any player scores 50 or more points in a playoff game, Dash Pass members can grab a free threepiece crispy tenders combo from Wingtop the next day with a $20 order and code Wingstop 50. That’s Dash Pass. Your door to more savings, more flavor, and more ways to win. Terms apply. So there’s the route because if there was a positive for the Sacramento Kings in losing their first round draft pick to the Atlanta Hawks in a trade that involved Kevin Herurder from three years ago, Doug, if there’s a positive to it, it’s that it freed up all of their draft compensation going forward. So, new general manager Scott Perry takes over and has all of his assets to play with in addition to all the Kings own draft picks or first round picks through like 2032. They also have a San Antonio Spurs unprotected pick from 2027 and they have a Minnesota Timberwolves unprotected pick from 2031. So, it’s not quite a Sam Prey treasure trove of draft pick assets, but it’s something that seems like it would be the route to really make the conversation serious. I won’t say get the conversation done, but really make the conversation serious. So, in your mind, if you’re just completely ballparking to get the Hornets to have a conversation, you kind of touched on it there, like three first round picks is the base, right? If if we’re talk because the Kings aren’t the the p the contracts that the Sacramento Kings have that they’d be willing to trade in a LaMelo Ball deal do not fit that timeline of the Hornets like you’re talking like there’s nothing Zack Lavine or Demand Sabonis or Demar De Rozan do none of them do anything for the Charlotte Hornets. So it’s draft and maybe Keegan Murray or a Keon Ellis or something like that. What like when you just think or like on the top of your head like what comes to mind of this is what I would need to even consider LaMelo from the Kings, what how many picks, what are we talking? Yeah, I think if a team did not have a star that made sense or the again the young like wing players that that made sense for the timeline, then I think it would all it would all be about getting three or four picks, getting some other team involved that would take on the salary and could do more with a D Rozan or a Lavine that that would benefit them more so that the Hornets don’t have that around their neck for the next three or four seasons. you know, I I think that’s where the conversation would would have to start. But I you know, I think what’s going to happen, what I suspect will happen is that if these conversations ever take place, there’s going to have to be a meeting in the middle of if you’re Jeff Peterson, you’re saying to someone else, th this is the cornerstone of our franchise. We have to bring something back that is meaningful enough to give up the cornerstone of our franchise. and the other the other general manager is going to say yes, but he’s had like 17 ankle injuries, right? Like there has to be some understanding that cornerstone or not that this is a player um that that not only is going to come with that injury baggage, but also has never played in a single playoff game. And and I think that’s a big deal. I think part of the reason uh why they had difficulty before moving PJ Washington, they eventually did convince a desperate Dallas team that wanted to make the finals really badly to give up that first round pick. But before that, in trying to move some of these players, they had a lot of difficulty moving them because they had not had that play. These young players had not had that playoff experience. And so I think that always is going to make a trade difficult when you can’t, you know, convince another GM, hey, this player has been there, done that, and they’ll do it for you. Speaking from experience, Doug, having your general manager trade the cornerstone of your franchise for basically nothing or a bad contract like Zack Lavine doesn’t feel very, very good. So I understand that. See, Kings fans, this is the proper approach to trading your star is actually getting something in return, not just punting on it because you have a week before the trade deadline. Well, and we’ve talked about the the Fox situation on locked on Hornets as it relates to the to the LaMelo situation because while LaMelo has said all of the right things, he has been, you know, again, on paper just extremely loyal to the Charlotte Hornets or in on paper and in press conferences has been extremely loyal to the Charlotte Hornets. has said nothing, has not even given the media a little whiff of of anything. How much of that is him missing so many games? Like where how could he even sort of make that plea when he hasn’t played a lot of basketball games? Although that hasn’t stopped other, you know, players in the past from doing that. But but my question would be if he does play a full healthy season over the next two years and the Hornets still can’t get to the playoffs, then when does that start to become a conversation? Or alternatively, if he can’t play another full healthy season, like if he gets another ankle injury 20 games into the season and you know only plays 30-ish games, where does that trade value sit then? Like it might be in terms of risk, your riskreward profile, this might be as good as it gets for LaMelo. So, I I think the the franchise would be wise to keep accepting those calls and if they if they get a team desperate enough to make this move, you know, it might be in the best interest of this particular version of the franchise to to get more serious about that conversation. And that’s what I wonder too is are the Sacramento Kings desperate enough to to mortgage so much of their future or trade so much of their future for ball and can the Charlotte Hornets hope to get anything better down the road even if LaMelo has a fantastic and healthy season? How much better can it get than what the Kings might be? Again, this is all legend. We have no idea, but might be willing to to trade right now. Let me ask you like to separate yourself from the Hornets, which I know is difficult to do. just your temperature on LaMelo as the guy and the possibility of a team trading three minimum sounds like three first round picks probably pick swaps in there as well like a a humongous investment of their future into LaMelo as the new centerpiece of their franchise. How would you or how do you feel about LaMelo’s ability to be worth that risk? I suppose if you expect him to be the guy, I think it’s a huge risk. And we we’ve talked about this on locked on Hornets. Is he a number one or is he ultimately a number two? And I think we’ve landed on that if the Hornets were going to be successful, it’s going to be because Brandon Miller ascends to a Paul George-like, you know, prime Paul George number one. And then LaMelo is is facilitating a lot of that and, you know, scoring a lot of threes, making a lot of great passes, reducing the number of turnovers. We’ve had the is LaMelo a Kate Cunningham type of guard who is going to get downhill uh you know force a lot of contact get to the free throw line be efficient that way and then make steals on the maybe maybe not be as disciplined defensively but you’re going to make some steals or is it going to be Tyrese Hallebertton who is more about I’m going to hit a few threes a game maybe four five threes and I’m going to pass more I’m going to reduce my turnovers and I think we we be I We had this conversation before Hallebertton just absolutely exploded in these playoffs, but I I think we landed on this idea that if he’s going to be anything, because of his body type and and because of I think some of the defensive limitations, he was going to gravitate more towards being a Tyresese Hallebertton. And um you know, again, the the risk is the injury takes all of that away. If he has another severe ankle injury, that that takes all that away. Now, to his credit, he has finally got, I think, gotten more serious about getting into the weight room and doing some of the things that Steph Curry did, wearing something on his ankles. I don’t know if they’re like the serious Steph Curry ankle braces, but he’s wearing something on his ankles now. He’s taking it more seriously because I think he sees, well, he signed the Max contract, so there’s a little bit of a responsibility there. But also, I think he sees like, hey, this could be the defining sort of moment of my career. am I going to be a player that plays for another, you know, seven to 10 years or not? Um, but at the same time, you can do everything right in that respect and these things are freaky and the body’s freaky and everybody’s body’s different and it could all go a different way. So, going back to my original thesis there, if you expect him to be the number one guy and to like, you know, drag your team to the playoffs, he’s just not proven that he could do that. you know, I mean, he he because of injuries, but also I would have some serious questions otherwise about his ability to to do that just because of the structure of his game, if that makes any sense. Is the maj the maturity part of the conversation, is that over and done with? because I remember that being a big thing with Ant and now nobody really talks about it anymore because he’s balling in the playoffs and maybe heading to the finals for for an organization that again not only looking for a number one guy to help them win with but the cornerstone of their franchise and I know Charlotte has dealt with this of is LaMelo mature enough can he become mature enough to be the centerpiece of a potentially championship winning team is that conversation just kind of over and done with because of the ball family and everything or is that still lingering you think should that still be a topic of conversation for a team trying to acquire him. I’m not sure that the Anthony Edwards conversation is done. It’s evolved. And I think that’s what happens when players win playoff series and start to advance. That the the the idea evolves into do they do they have the the attitude? Do they have the uh the ability to take responsibility, the ability to be mature in the face of, you know, imminent danger or in the face of a 3-1 hole to to help pull their team a little bit closer or pull them out of it completely. Uh and I think that’s yet to be seen with Anthony Edwards, who I think, you know, wasn’t is not shooting the ball a ton in this series. Yeah. Uh and feels like he’s putting a lot of that blame on other people. So I think to to answer that question, you have to be put into the fire. And that’s the risk with bringing on somebody like LaMelo Ball is that he has not been through that. He has been part of playin blowouts, but he has not been part of a team that has had to face a sevename series. The the playoffs are just an entirely different beast. Maybe he’s totally made for that and the Hornets haven’t done a good enough job, you know, circumstances, the injuries, and the Hornets haven’t done a good enough job of putting talent around him quickly enough. I certainly may have made that argument on lockdown Hornets that that Mitch and Jordan were old school. And they said, “Young rookie, you’re going to young rookie.” And they didn’t say, “Oh my god, we have a bag of gold. Let’s go get some silver and put around it and and get this guy to the playoffs so that he can learn, so he can do those things.” They didn’t do that unfortunately. They they wanted to because I think they wanted to to cheap out a little bit and see if LaMelo could sort of in that Trey Young way magically evolve the uh the Hornets into a sudden playoff threat and it just never materialized. So the risk is that he hasn’t been through that. So you don’t know how he’s going to react to that pressure. Um you know I think he’s matured a lot since he was a young kid. Lonzo Ball, his brother would back that up. uh that he was a little bit of a rap scallion um as a kid and got into a lot of trouble that even Lonzo couldn’t talk about on the air. Uh but he hasn’t he hasn’t necessarily been that for Charlotte. He’s not a player you could market. He’s just too sort of he’s he’s so totally himself. I mean, his whole brand is one of one rare and he is very much he’s not very talkative. Um, you know, we’ll flash some birds in like official team photos occasionally or not official team photos, but like photos that are being taken around certain events. Like there’s just these little things where you go, “All right, this this guy’s probably not going to ever be the like the the sort of commercial success and a lot of the same conversations that we have about Anthony Edwards, right? Because of the cursing, because of so on so forth, it’s it’s more difficult to make that player the face of a franchise or the face of a of a league.” Um, but you know, I think more importantly, how how will he respond as a player to if the Hornets ever make the playoffs? I I think the the first step is going to be losing that first seven game series. What does that do to him? That’s a question that we just simply don’t know the answer to. Doug, we’ll wrap with this because I always think you can learn something from the outside perspective on your organization. What what do you make of just the Sacramento Kings right now from whatever perspective that you have, however much you’ve paid attention to them? And I mean, a lot of people consider the Charlotte Hornets or from what I’ve heard, my perspective has been like a lot of people have considered the Charlotte Hornets to be in one of the the the toughest places, but again, at least they have young talent unlike Sacramento at this point. Where would you take would you swap the circumstances with Sacramento, I suppose, or are you comfortable and confident with kind of where Charlotte is? I know you’re exchanging bad for bad here. Yeah. Well, but but you’ve had a you’ve had a Christmas Day game recently, or not recently, but you’ve had a Christmas Day game within ever. I mean, the Hornets have not had that national TV games, right? I think you’ve had one of those. You’ve had a playoff series win. Um, so, so in a lot of ways, yeah, I mean, you’re you’re the the Hornets fan base is, uh, in the desert and you are, uh, maybe a dirty pond. You know, it’s going to taste great. Uh, to the person that’s in the desert, maybe to you it doesn’t seem great, but to the person that is in the desert, um, it is quenching a thirst. You know, I think when when I look at the Sacramento Kings from the outside looking in, I don’t have all the information that you do. I’m not as plugged in. But when I look at that situation, I think, man, it’s really hard to win in this league and it’s even harder to once you do win to sustain that winning. It takes obviously talent, it takes luck, but organizationally it takes both a desire to do things. You have to want to do those things. Jordan and Cupchack, they didn’t want to do those things. uh Matt Ishbia over at the Suns, he wants to do a lot of stuff, but then it’s that other thing which is the discipline. It’s the patience that is required and really threading those really tight windows of what to do and what not to do and not to be hasty and that’s what we’ll have to grade Jeff Peterson and company on in Charlotte. And and also the final thing is communication. You know, I looked at that whole dear Fox thing and I thought if somebody just would have talked to somebody, including your own organization, to the press, so many problems, I think, would have been solved. And so, just like fair and honest communication would would go a lot a long way in a lot of these franchises that have been stuck, you know, in the mud, you know, spinning their tires over and over. And I’ve said this a lot about Charlotte when the new when the new version of the ownership group and the uh general manager came in. And I said, “Look, you have to be honest about what the problems are because the previous or the previous version of the organization was not and you cannot fix problems that you’re unwilling to admit are problems.” Words of wisdom from Doug Branson there. I’m very curious, Doug, to see what to hear what Sacramento Kings fans think about a potential LaMelo ball trade. Even what Charlotte Hornets fans think about a potential LaMelo ball trade in the package that the Kings may or may not be willing to offer for him. I appreciate you taking the time, Doug. We’ll get through this off seasonason together and one of these days we’ll get a Kings Hornets NBA Finals and everybody inside of Sacramento and Charlotte will love it. Probably the rest of the league will hate it, but hey, we’ll we’ll have fun in in 20 100 or something, whatever the We’ll get out of the desert. You’ll clean up the dirty pond and and we’ll play in the river. Well, a river sounds good. I’ll take a river right now. I will take a river. Doug, appreciate you taking the time, my friend. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Matt George and Locked On Hornets host Doug Branson team up for a conversation about a potential LaMelo Ball trade this offseason.

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Valid only at participating Wingstop locations. Fees (including service fee), taxes, and gratuity still apply. Orders must have a minimum subtotal of $20, excluding taxes and fees. Offer valid on 4/15/25-6/22 /25 or while supplies last. Valid for one (1) promotional redemption per customer. DoubleDash promotions apply only to your DoubleDash add-on order, not your primary order. DoubleDash orders are not valid for the purchase of alcohol. No cash value. Non-transferable. Discount applies to subtotal only; does not apply to fees, taxes, and gratuity. Not valid for pickup. Limit one per person. Not valid for the purchase of alcohol. Fees, taxes, and gratuity still apply. Must have an active DashPass account. Use promo code WINGSTOP50 to redeem. See full terms and conditions at drd.sh/qnAXuU

FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

What If the Sacramento Kings Went All-In for LaMelo Ball?
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