Charania reported the agreement on September 26, just four days after Charlotte officially acquired Hield from the Atlanta Hawks in the trade that sent Dorian Finney-Smith to Atlanta.
The move would send Dillingham to his third NBA team since February. Chicago acquired the 21-year-old from Minnesota at the 2026 trade deadline as part of the deal that sent Ayo Dosunmu and Julian Phillips to the Timberwolves.
Hield, meanwhile, would be moved for the second time in less than a week and the third time during 2026 after beginning the year with Golden State.
Neither Chicago nor Charlotte had formally announced the latest trade at the time of publication.
He is still only 21 and was the No. 8 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. His first two NBA seasons haven't established him as a long-term starter, but the talent that made him a lottery pick hasn't simply disappeared.
Charlotte can afford to find out what is still there.
This is a roster already being reshaped around a younger timeline, and acquiring Dillingham gives the Hornets another developmental guard rather than simply carrying Hield as a veteran shooter.
There is also very little stability in Dillingham's young career so far. Minnesota drafted him, Chicago acquired him at February's deadline and, if this reported deal is completed, Charlotte becomes his third NBA home in a matter of months.
For Chicago, the calculation looks different.
Hield gives the Bulls a proven high-volume perimeter shooter, but the speed of his latest move is extraordinary. Charlotte only officially acquired him from Atlanta four days ago. Now he is reportedly packing again before playing a game for the Hornets.
That makes this an unusual piece of late-offseason roster engineering for both teams.
Charlotte is effectively converting a veteran it had only just acquired into another young player to evaluate. Chicago is moving away from a 21-year-old former lottery pick remarkably quickly after acquiring him at the deadline.
The next question is whether Dillingham finally gets enough stability and opportunity in Charlotte to turn potential into a defined NBA role.
LEAN EDGE VERDICT
Buddy Hield barely had time to learn where the light switches were in Charlotte.
But Dillingham is the player who makes this trade interesting beyond the transaction wire.
Three teams in such a short period is hardly the start envisioned for a former No. 8 pick. Charlotte now gets the opportunity to decide whether that reflects what Dillingham is, or simply how unsettled his NBA beginning has been.
For a Hornets team already leaning into a younger future, that's a gamble worth examining.
