2026 NBA Rumors Live Blog with Latest News, Trade Buzz and Grades

This is a bit of a surprise. Have things really gone so sour this offseason that the Boston Celtics-Jaylen Brown relationship is just unsalvageable?

He just won a title with this team two years ago. We have pretty good evidence that the pairing of Brown and Jayson Tatum works.

It's hard to square how the team went from the level of success it had with these two to "can't be competitive" with Brown so quickly.

If there really is no path forward, some other team could back into one of the league's best second options. And it looks like several might already be in the mix.

Of course, Boston isn't going to just give him away, but all signs are pointing to Brown landing on a new team before the season starts.

Shortly after news broke that the Charlotte Hornets were trading LaMelo Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves, we learned that Coby White would re-sign with Charlotte.

And considering the fact that he's sort of the de facto starting point guard now, this deal is a steal.

The average annual value here works out to about 15 percent of the 2026-27 salary cap, which is below market for the role and minutes White is likely to play.

And though he's not quite the distributor Ball is, if White produces like he did post-trade last season (he averaged 15.6 points and 3.0 assists in 19.3 minutes, while shooting 39.1 percent from deep), the Hornets should still push for a playoff spot.

There's some playmaking upside yet to be developed for Kon Knueppel and Brandon Miller, and White's off-ball experience should help on that front too.

At this price, bringing him back was a no-brainer.

Grade: A

Hornets Receive: Naz Reid, a 2033 first-round pick, three first-round pick swaps and three second-round picks

Timberwolves Receive: LaMelo Ball and Josh Green

LaMelo Ball was a huge part of the Charlotte Hornets' second-half surge last season, but he's also long been a significant injury risk. And this offer from Minnesota was simply too good to pass up.

Minnesota, on the other hand, was happy to take on the risk to pair Anthony Edwards with a bona fide playmaking star who actually finished 2025-26 with a higher EPM than Ant.

The risk is pretty high, but so is the reward.

Hornets Grade: B+

Timberwolves Grade: B-

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