The Charlotte Hornets have been one of the pleasant surprises of this NBA season, as while most expected them to get a little better after drafting LaMelo Ball, not a lot of basketball pundits thought the Hornets would make the playoffs and avoid the play-in game.

The Hornets are one of the hottest teams in the NBA, winning their last four games to jump them to fifth in the ultra-close Eastern Conference.

With the four-seeded Miami Heat and the 11-seeded Toronto Raptors only separated by 4.5 games in the standings, one bad stretch by any East squad in that playoff pack could leave them on the outside looking in come the postseason.

Here are a few moves at the 2021 NBA Trade Deadline that the Hornets could make to secure a spot in the top six  in the Eastern Conference.

Hornets trade Caleb Martin, Bismack Biyombo, and Brooklyn's second-round pick in 2021 to the Sacramento Kings for Richaun Holmes

The Hornets lack depth in the frontcourt and could use a reliable defensive big who can at least slow down dominant Eastern Conference bigs like Joel Embiid and Bam Adebayo.

While the Kings do have the worst defensive rating in the NBA, Richaun Holmes has not been the reason for that, as the sixth-year center ranks in the top 10 or just outside of it in most advanced rim-protecting stats (per NBA.com), holding opponents to 54.1 percent on shots from six feet away or less.

In this trade, the Kings get a low-cost forward in Martin, a career 41.1 percent three-point shooter who can provide depth and solid defense for a Sacramento that could certainly use both of those.

Biyombo would have to waive his no-trade clause to allow this trade to happen, but getting a chance to start again and play with rising stars in De'Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton may be enough for the big man to reconsider the clause.

The Hornets may have to fork over a future second-round pick to convince Sacramento to make the trade, but they have the flexibility to make a deal this year.

They have the rights to the second-round picks of the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers, as a future pick is worth giving up for a defensive center as good as Holmes.

Holmes gives the Hornets a consistent defender and quality rim runner who can be trusted to play at the end of games.

A Ball-Holmes pick-and-roll with Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward, Malik Monk spotting up as shooters is a super-efficient lineup that can keep up with most NBA offenses.

Hornets trade Cody Zeller, Malik Monk, and a 2023 first-round pick (lottery-protected) for Myles Turner

Poor Myles Turner. With the former Texas Longhorn being in trade rumors in years, the big man probably has a few bags packed in case the ball drops.

Turner has proven his worth when not on the floor this season. The IndyStar of the USAToday network laid this out recently, as NBA teams are well aware of Turner's defensive worth because when he's on the bench, the Pacers' defense gets significantly worst.

Turner has proven to be one of the best defensive centers in the NBA, leading the league in blocks (3.4) and holding opponents to 47.4 percent from less than six feet, the best mark in the league.

As ESPN's Zach Lowe and The Ringer's Bill Simmons discussed on a recent podcast, the biggest thing separating the Hornets from the top contenders in the East like the Philadelphia 76ers and the Milwaukee Bucks is their lack of a reliable frontcourt presence.

In the trade above, the Hornets aren't giving up too much to get one of the best defensive centers in basketball who can also stretch the floor on offense (Turner is a career 34.9 percent three-point shooter, which is around the league average, but better than most NBA big men).

With this transaction, the Pacers get a center in Zeller who could use a change of scenery and might excel in his home state, a solid shooter who can get hot in a hurry in Monk, and a future first-round pick to give the Pacers another quality player a few years down the road.

A crunch-time lineup of Ball, Rozier, Hayward, Turner, and whoever is playing better out of P.J. Washington and Miles Bridges is a well-rounded group who can win a playoff series, which is something  Hornets fans haven't been really able to look forward to in years.