NBA Trade Rumors: Predicting where the top 20 deadline candidates will land

14. Jalen McDaniels, Charlotte Hornets

The Charlotte Hornets are probably a team that should blow up the roster at the NBA trade deadline. They appear to be destined for a top-three pick in the 2023 NBA draft and don’t have many foundational pieces to build around moving forward.

All that said, I don’t believe it’s a foregone conclusion that this team is simply going to be a complete seller at the deadline. Though, there is a chance that they do move on from some of their pieces. Particularly Jalen McDaniels. He is a player that has garnered much interest in the trade market. Whether or not he ends up trade it is the big question.

The Hornets would probably want something that would equate to a future first-round pick in exchange for McDaniels. I think that could be hard for them to get on the open market. Because of that, I believe that it’s probably in the best interest of the Hornets to hold onto the asset that McDaniels is and see how the offseason turns out.

Prediction: He’s not traded at the deadline.