Around a year ago, two weeks after the Lakers had just acquired Luka Doncic, Miles Bridges torched them with 29 points to lead the Hornets to a 100-97. The Hornets had a massive chip on their shoulder, fueled by the slight of a botched trade. But Rob Pelinka seemingly set his sights on another Hornets player. Now, this close to the trade deadline, it’s Miles Bridges on the Lakers’ radar.

It’s no coincidence that as soon as Bridges moved up to third place in the Hornets’ all-time scorers list, the trade rumor mill was abuzz that the Lakers want him. Now the Lakers don’t necessarily need another explosive scorer, especially if Doncic gets Austin Reaves back. Nor can Miles help them defensively. But fit is not the obstacle in this trade.

Jovan Buha and Trevor Lane discussed Miles Bridges coming to the Lakers and Lane was pretty blunt that Pelinka has a tall mountain of animosity to climb. The Lakers Nation host said that he was asked about the same on a Charlotte radio show recently and his answer was the same.

“I said, ‘Will the Hornets deal with the Lakers after what happened last year?’ I tend to think yes, but are they giving the Lakers a great deal?”

Lane put the spotlight on a fragile relationship between the Lakers and Hornets front offices after what happened a year ago.

“Is there animosity still towards the league? Oh, I’m sure. Is there animosity still towards the Lakers because of…I’m talking about the rescinded Mark Williams trade. But could the Lakers do something for Miles? Look, if a team has the right deal sitting in front of them, they’re going to do the deal.”

The right deal, according to some reports, might be in the Golden State Warriors. And some speculate if the Hornets will do that just to spite the Lakers.

It’s not that the Hornets won’t do business with the Lakers. But they would likely play hardball and the Lakers would pay the price by jeopardizing Luka Doncic and LeBron James’ perimeter support.

No bridge between the Lakers and the Hornets

Trevor Lane listed the obvious reasons the Lakers want to get Miles Bridges. “I think he fits, maybe not in a defensive sense, but he fits certainly with his three-point shooting ability, his ability to score the basketball, that he he would immediately solve some of your bench scoring problems, and he is a wing.”

But his $25 million salary will really hit the cap-strapped Lakers. They’d have to give up multiple pieces like Rui Hachimura, Bronny James, and most significantly, Dalton Knecht. And the Hornets would want to make the Lakers bleed.

Pelinka’s team burnt the bridge with the Hornets when they tried to acquire star center Mark Williams. They rookie Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, and significant draft capital to Charlotte. Knecht at that time was on a great run that even veterans like Charles Barkley was scolding GMs for overlooking his talent.

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However, in a move that shocked the league, the Lakers rescinded the trade 48 hours later, claiming Williams had failed his physical due to “multiple issues” beyond his documented back problems.

Knecht is back, not exactly performing like the generational talent he was as a rookie. Williams was insulted, the Hornets were offended, LakeShow became Charlotte’s mortal enemies. The Hornets felt that Pelinka had got a bad case of buyer’s remorse and took Knecht back.

If Pelinka officially pursues Bridges, it would be like walking over the still smoking pile of ashes of that bridge he burnt: Painful and pointless.