The Charlotte Hornets are on the road on Friday night as they travel to Scotiabank Arena to take on the Toronto Raptors.
Charlotte enters Friday’s contest amid a three-game losing streak and they have also dropped six of their last 10 games as they sit 14th in the Eastern Conference standings.
They will now face off against a Raptors team that has won five of their last 10 games including two straight.
Ahead of Friday’s game, the Hornets made a disappointing announcement regarding their star point guard LaMelo Ball.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Ball will miss the rest of the season as he undergoes two minor procedures on his ankle and wrist.
Of course, Ball had played through the lingering wrist and ankle injury over the past few weeks but after consulting doctors, they determined that it would be in Ball’s best interest to miss the rest of the season due to the injuries.
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This is a massive blow for the Hornets but also one that will help them continue to fight for better lottery odds with them already eliminated from the playoffs.
Ball will now finish the season having played just 47 games, which has been a recurring theme over his five seasons in the NBA.
In those five seasons, the 23-year-old guard has played in 50 or more games just twice in his career and this season marked the first time he had played in more than 40 games since the 2021-22 season where he played a career-high 75 games.
Ball will end the season averaging 25.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 40.5% from the field and 33.9% from three-point range.
Of course, Ball has been the subject of trade rumors as he could be growing frustrated with the Hornets organization which could lead to them moving on from him in the offseason.
Despite this, Ball is expected to be ready to go by the beginning of next season for the Hornets as they try to end their lengthy rebuild.
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