As the Charlotte Hornets front office begins to determine how they will approach their franchise's pivotal offseason, Bleacher Report NBA analyst Andy Bailey suggested one trade that could potentially change the teams entire trajectory.

In his recent article titled “5 Wild NBA Trades That Could Right Now”, he suggested a trade that would send multiple-time All-Star and former No.1 overall pick Zion Williamson to the Hornets for Miles Bridges, Tidjane Salaün and two first-round picks (2026,2028).  

At first glance, it seems like a steep price to pay for a player with health concerns (Williamson has only played more than 60 games in a season twice). Tidjane Salaün isn’t even a year removed from being a top-ten pick, and Miles Bridges has been the teams most consistent player over the past five years when available.

With that being said, adding Williamson while keeping core players like LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller would put the team to push for a playoff spot immediately, and also make them a more enticing target to free agents or other trade candidates.

Williamson only played in 30 games this season, but averaged 24.6 points and 7.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists. Throughout his career, he is averaging 24.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists. 

While his injury history is definitely concerning, he has also been the main playmaker on a team that has provided him with little support since drafting him first overall back in 2019. I can see his advanced workload being a reason for his body breaking down. Playing for a team like Charlotte that has a primary ball handler in LaMelo Ball, and other offensive weapons like Brandon Miller and Mark Williams could take some of the weight off Williamson’s shoulders.