# Hornets Crash and Burn in NBA Power Rankings After LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges Trades
The Charlotte Hornets have taken a significant hit in the latest NBA power rankings, plummeting out of the top 10 after trading LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges. This move was meant to be a future-oriented shift, but in the meantime, the Hornets have gotten worse.
What Happened?
At the end of last season, the Charlotte Hornets had ascended into a tier of NBA teams they hadn't been in for decades, maybe ever. They hovered around the top 10 in plenty of power rankings for a while before finally passing that elusive threshold. It seemed that offseason was initially going to be about building on that. Given how well they performed, any positive move (such as re-signing Coby White or drafting Hannes Steinbach) was supposed to reinforce that they'd finally arrived.
Why It Matters for Charlotte Hornets
The Hornets were a top-10 team. Then, the front office decided to pivot and trade LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges, 40% of the NBA's best five-man lineup last season. It was surprising, but what isn't surprising is that they're worse now. This was meant to be a future-oriented shift. But in the meantime, the Hornets did get worse. They have more depth, but they don't have a top-tier guy anymore, and they don't have a player that can really tie everything together like Ball did.
What Comes Next?
The Athletic's Law Murray ranked all teams by tiers, and the Hornets have cratered out of that top-10 region. The latest power rankings show the Hornets struggling to find their footing without their star players. Ahead of a run of games, you can check on our [fixtures](/fixtures) page to see when the Hornets will be back in action.
The Hornets have been on a rough stretch, with a recent form of 2W-0D-3L (WWLLL, most recent first), on a 2-game winning run. Their last result was a 96-110 win over the New York Knicks on 2026-04-12. With the playoffs just around the corner, the Hornets will need to find a way to get back on track if they want to make a deep run.
The Hornets' front office has been under fire for the trades, with many fans feeling that the team gave up too much in exchange for what they got back. Only time will tell if the trades will pay off in the long run, but for now, the Hornets are struggling to find their footing without their star players.
