Hornets trade – Charlotte have agreed to trade Miles Bridges to the Phoenix Suns, exchanging him and two draft picks for Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale and a 2033 first-round pick. The deal—first reported by ESPN—still needs league approval and arrives after the Hornets moved L
The Hornets didn’t wait long to reshape their roster. Charlotte have agreed to trade forward Miles Bridges to the Phoenix Suns in a deal that swaps a long-time core piece for a new mix of established role players and future draft value.
The agreement sends Bridges. a 2029 first-round draft pick and a 2027 second-round pick to Phoenix in return for guard Grayson Allen. forward Royce O’Neale and a 2033 first-round pick. A person familiar with the situation spoke on condition of anonymity on Sunday because the trade—first reported by ESPN—still needs to be approved by the league.
The timing matters in Charlotte. The Bridges move follows on from the Hornets sending star point guard LaMelo Ball to Minnesota as part of a deal that brought them Naz Reid. draft picks and pick swaps. The reshaping comes just months after the Hornets improved their win total by 24 games from last season under second-year head coach Charles Lee. Charlotte also saw their season end with a play-in loss to Orlando.
Bridges was the longest-tenured player on the Hornets roster, arriving as a first-round draft pick in 2018 out of Michigan State. Over seven seasons, he averaged 15.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game while shooting 46.1% from the field and 33.8% from three-point range. His most productive season came in 2023-24, when he averaged 21 points and 7.3 rebounds while shooting 34.9% from beyond the arc.
Off the court, Bridges’ time in Charlotte was repeatedly shaped by legal and league punishment. He sat out the 2022-23 season following accusations of domestic abuse. On the eve of free agency in June 2022. he was arrested on charges including felony child abuse and injuring a child’s parent. The NBA forced him to sit out while his legal case was pending. and he ultimately pleaded no contest to a felony domestic violence charge in November 2022.
After that, the league issued further consequences. Bridges was suspended for 30 games in April 2023, but received a 20-game credit because he missed the entire 2022-23 season. Throughout his tenure, Charlotte never made the playoffs.
With Bridges leaving, the Hornets are betting on a different kind of lineup construction. The trade opens the door for Naz Reid—acquired when LaMelo Ball was dealt—to potentially take on a starting role at power forward. while Grayson Allen arrives with a reputation as one of the NBA’s more reliable scoring guards.
Allen is listed at 6-foot-3 and grew into a solid scorer in three seasons with the Suns. averaging a career-high 16.5 points and 3.8 assists per game. Injuries, though, limited him to just 51 games. He’s considered an elite 3-point shooter, but his accuracy dipped to 34.9% from long range last season.
O’Neale, 33 and 6-foot-6, is a veteran entering his 10th NBA season. The forward spent the past 2 1/2 seasons with the Suns and averaged a career-high 9.8 points per game last season while shooting nearly 41% from beyond the arc. The six-foot-seven Bridges had been central to Charlotte’s identity for years; now. Allen and O’Neale signal a sharper focus on plug-in pieces.
The deal also continues Charlotte’s connection to Duke. Allen is the third former Duke player to join the Hornets roster.
For now, the move is not final. League approval is still required before the trade can be completed—another reminder that even when a roster shift looks ready to go, the final stamp has to come from the rules of the competition.
Miles Bridges Charlotte Hornets Phoenix Suns Grayson Allen Royce O’Neale LaMelo Ball trade Naz Reid NBA trade play-in