Charlotte Hornets Receive: G Patrick Beverley, G Kendrick Nunn, 2027 First-Round (LAL) 

Los Angeles Lakers Receive: G Terry Rozier 

On the other hand, teams aren’t simply handed talent. They acquire talented players from several pools. 

One of those pools is the NBA draft. Meanwhile, the worse your team is, the better odds you have of landing a top selection. For that reason, some teams practice “tanking”. 

You’re probably familiar with the practice. A tanking team makes decisions that may not lead to winning. It’s especially attractive this season with the grand prize being Victor Wembenyama with a consolation prize of Scoot Henderson.

Iif a key player is injured, they may sit them for longer than necessary – just to be on the safe side. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell whether a team is tanking or just plain bad. For example, the Charlotte Hornets were never going to win many games without LaMelo Ball in 2022-23.

LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Terry Rozier, Charlotte Hornets & Los Angeles Lakers Updates

Another option is to make trades that make the team worse in the short-term from a talent standpoint, but position the asset pool and contract table better for the future.

By now, they’ve lost too many games to turn this season around. Should they tank the rest of it?