Buddy Hield Traded to Bulls from Hornets for Former Lottery Pick, New NBA Rumors Reveal

Buddy Hield is on the move again days after being traded from the Atlanta Hawks to the Charlotte Hornets.

The Hornets are trading Hield and cash to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Rob Dillingham, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Saturday.

Charania reported Thursday the Hawks had traded Hield, Ryan Nembhard and cash to the Hornets in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith.

Hield split last season between the Golden State Warriors and Hawks. He is signed through next season under a $9.7 million cap hit with a $10 million player option for 2027-28, per Spotrac.

According to ESPN's Bobby Marks, Hield was able to be moved twice in a week because the original trade from the Hawks to Hornets did not involve aggregating his salary with another player's.

The Bulls are projected to go over the salary cap following the trade but remain more than $34 million below the luxury tax, per Spotrac's Keith Smith. Smith also projects the Hornets will drop to $25.6 million beneath the luxury tax.

Dillingham is set to play this season under a $6.9 million cap hit after the Bulls activated his team option.

He holds an $8.8 million club option on which the Hornets will need to make a decision by Oct. 31, per Spotrac.

The Hornets could either create a $2.8 million trade exception or use the $8.2 million trade exception gained from trading Collin Sexton to the Bulls in February in order to accommodate Dillingham's contract, per Marks.

Should the Hornets use the Sexton trade exception for the deal, they could also create a $9.7 million trade exception for Hield, per Smith.

Charlotte still has to move some players from the roster in order to hit the 15-man limit by Oct. 19, Marks noted.

Dillingham was initially a costly addition for the Minnesota Timberwolves ahead of the 2024-25 season.

The Wolves sent a package including an unprotected 2031 first-rounder for the chance to acquire the rights to Dillingham, who had been selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the No. 8 pick in the 2024 draft.

Dillingham ultimately saw limited playing time while coming off the bench for a season-and-a-half with the Wolves before he was traded to the Bulls as part of the trade-deadline deal that sent Ayo Dosunmu to Minnesota last February.

The Hornets could now hope Dillingham, who struggled to produce in his brief tenure with Chicago, will benefit from another change of scenery.

The Bulls will meanwhile bring in Hield as a veteran presence who can add shooting abilities and experience to what may be one of the NBA's youngest rosters next season.