The Charlotte Hornets are blowing up their roster — again. Just days after moving LaMelo Ball, Charlotte has agreed to send Miles Bridges to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale and a 2033 first-round pick, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
The Hornets will also send a 2029 first-round pick and a 2027 second-round pick to Phoenix as part of the deal.
Bridges, 28, averaged 17.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in 2025-26 but had become something of an awkward fit in Charlotte’s emerging young core alongside Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel. He was slated to earn $22.8 million in 2026-27 in the final year of his contract, making him an expiring asset teams could build a deadline deal around — and Phoenix was apparently willing to pay up now.
For the Suns, the move adds a high-motor wing with playoff experience and one year of cost-controlled production. After years of trying to get Bridges, they finally do.
Allen and O’Neale head to Charlotte as the salary filler in the deal, with the unprotected 2033 Phoenix first-rounder serving as the real sweetener to get it across the finish line.
The Takeaway:
Charlotte is making a clear statement — this is Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel’s team now, and everything else is being repositioned around that.
Trading both Ball and Bridges in the same offseason is a dramatic reset, but the Hornets are getting back draft capital and clearing the roster of veteran contracts that were complicating their timeline. The 2033 Phoenix first-rounder is a long way out, but if the Suns continue to struggle, it could end up being a lottery pick. Charlotte is betting on youth — and they’re being aggressive about it.
