We all know the Charlotte Hornets read At The Hive religiously as they put together their draft plans. So to help them out, I’ve created a big board they can use as a reference for making their draft selections. These players are ranked while factoring in fit with the Hornets’ current roster and obviously my personal preference for play styles and the like.
Tier 1: Franchise Altering Prospect
Cooper Flagg
Cooper Flagg is head and shoulders above anyone else in this class. He checks every box you want in a basketball player and has no obvious weaknesses. He’s an elite defender that generates blocks and steals at an absurd rate, a good shooter, a good shot creator, and a good passer. He plays intelligently and relentlessly on both sides of the floor. There’s a ton to love and almost nothing to question.
Tier 2: Franchise lead guard
Dylan Harper
Dylan Harper sits alone in tier 2 thanks to his blend of positional size, interior scoring, and lead guard potential. His finishing around the basket is reminiscent of an oversized Jalen Brunson, and he’s an unselfish player that should be able to command an NBA offense with ease. He plays a lot like Cade Cunningham, who guided the Pistons to the playoffs and their first playoff win in like 150 years. He needs to shoot better to fully unlock his potential, but there’s reason to believe he’ll get there.
Tier 3: Clear NBA role with the chance for more
VJ Edgecombe
Edgecombe profiles as a capable 3&D player right out of the box. He has a history of being a reliable catch and shoot threat dating back to high school and has shown flashes of movement shooting as well. He brings a lot of play making to the defensive side of the floor and has a ton of athleticism to build off. He’s a winning player, and if he tightens up the handle, he has a chance to pop as a star.
Kon Knueppel
Knueppel has garnered a reputation as a standstill shooter with a low ceiling, but I think that massively downplays his total impact on the game. He was on one of the best teams in the country, so he didn’t get as much opportunity to stretch his skill set like others in his draft range, but he did prove is that he’s a winning player. He’s a knockdown shooter, a below-the-rim but crafty interior finisher, and a smart player on both sides of the ball. There’s not a lot of flash to his game, but that doesn’t make up any less effective. If nothing else, he’s an elite spot up shooting threat. At his best, he’s a secondary offensive hub that stuffs the stat sheet and does a little bit of everything. He was passable on the defensive end in college, but he needs to devote a to improving on that end to fully reach his potential.
Tier 4: I see the vision but I have doubts about the ceiling
Tre Johnson
Johnson rivals Knueppel as the best 3-point shooter in the class. He’s a terror to opposing defenses with his shot making from all over the floor. He can shoot off the catch, off the dribble, and off movement. There are little flashes of play making for others mixed in there as well. His defense knocks him down from Tier 3 though. Players with a tough shot diet and poor defensive metrics tend to cap out as microwave scorers off the bench. That’s certainly a useful player, but I think more well rounded players should be the target this high.
Jeremiah Fears
A lot of people rank Fears’ ceiling as the third or fourth highest in the draft based on his ability to put pressure on the rim and draw fouls along with a sort of it factor he brings to the floor. The rest of his game needs a lot of refinement. He wasn’t a great shooter or facilitator at Oklahoma and his defense is a concern. Whatever team drafts him is projecting that he builds out his game off his elite handle and rim pressure. He’s one of the younger players in the draft, so there’s a lot of room to grow too.
Ace Bailey
I’ve gone back and forth with how to rate Bailey. Bailey, like Johnson, lives off tough jumpers that he makes more often than most people could. He didn’t do it as well as Johnson did last season, but Bailey is a lot bigger and has at least shown a little bit of defensive promise. I ultimately rank him below Johnson and Jeremiah Fears because one of the concerns with Bailey is how he fits as a player if he doesn’t get good enough to justify star player usage. The way he’s handled the pre-draft process has only reinforced those concerns. I know a lot of that is agent stuff, but it’s bad optics for people not in the know. If intel about him behind the scenes is good, I could move him to the top of his grouping and be okay with it. If he pans out, he looks like a prototypical big bucket getter with a superstar name. If he doesn’t, I don’t know. Is he okay, being a 3&D forward with relatively low usage? If he is, he can still be a very good player wherever he lands.
Tier 5: Guys I like in the back half of the lottery
Collin Murray-Boyles
CMB has to deal with a pretty concerning combination of being height challenged for his position while also being a non-shooter. Still, he does all the other stuff so well that he should be able to help whatever team drafts him. He reads the game remarkably well on both ends of the floor. He’s one of the best defenders, if not the best defender in the class, and comes away with some ridiculous steals and blocks on the ball. On offense, he can function as a hub in the low and middle post, and while he can’t shoot from the outside, he scores very efficiently from 10 feet and in. He’s a winning player. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that he grows into some version of a Scottie Barnes type of player.
Kasparas Jakucionis
Jakucionis grew up and developed his game in Europe, and he plays like a prototypical big European guard. He’s not a great athlete, but he plays with a lot of craft and creativity, particularly in the pick and roll. He has a nasty step back jumper but needs to clean up his catch and shoot jumper. Still, guys that can navigate the pick and roll and orchestrate an offense have a place. He probably doesn’t have enough pop to blossom into a franchise lead guard, but he should fit as a complementary piece on a team with a more explosive guard alongside him.
Derik Queen
Queen probably has a higher bust potential than Khaman Maluach, who is usually ranked above him, but I like the idea of Queen better. He has a scintillating offensive skill set for a big, though he does need to figure out the outside shot to truly unlock it. Alperen Sengun and Domantas Sabonis are the best version of the type of player Queen can become. Naz Reid gets thrown around a lot as well if Queen figures out the jumper. He might not be big enough or defend well enough to get heavy minutes, but if he overcomes those limitations, he could outperform his eventual draft spot.
Jase Richardson
Son of former Charlotte Bobcats great Jason Richardson, Jase is probably a much more highly regarded prospect if he’s a few inches taller. He’s one of the shorter players in the class, but he brings a whole lot of game to make up for that. He’s a knockdown shooter that plays steady, solid basketball on both ends of the floor. It’s a copycat league, and Richardson isn’t too different than Jared McCain, who came out of nowhere to look like a rookie of the year candidate before he got hurt.
Carter Bryant
Bryant is this year’s “potential” guy. He’s 6’7″ with long arms and great vertical explosiveness. He was an agent of chaos as a defender for Arizona last season in limited minutes and showed the ability to thrive in a low usage 3&D role. There’s comfort in knowing that he’ll fit in there, but there’s a lot of unknown in the rest of his game. His role, usage, and physical profile remind me a lot of Patrick Williams coming out of Florida State.
Cedric Coward
I’m pretty firmly on team “no old prospects in the lottery,” but Coward has had an interesting enough ascent to where I don’t mind him for teams right at the lottery cutoff. He went from Division III to mid-major Division I to regular Division I basketball over the course of his four year college career and markedly improved each season. He has a prototype frame for a wing and has a long track record of knocking down threes. He seems like a safe bet to be a spot up shooting role player, and you can sell yourself on the development arc.
Tier 6: Guys that are okay but the Hornets have no use for them
NOA Essengue
Essengue is another French prospect with a lot of raw ability but whose game needs a lot of refining. We did that last year.
Khaman Malauch
I know this is super low for Maluach, but I’m not interested in using high value assets on centers that don’t offer anything as shooters or play makers. Maluach might become a very good rim runner and defender, but I think you can get a reasonable facsimile of that type of player for a significantly lighter investment, and it’s no guarantee Maluach even reaches a level above that.
The Strategy
I like guys that have a track record of playing winning basketball. Talent tends to win out when ranking players, but when it’s close, I’m always going to favor the guy that has a track record of elevating his team’s play when he’s on the floor. To me that holds more weight than a vision of what the best version a player could be when they haven’t actually done it yet. That’s why I like Edgecombe and Knueppel over guys like Johnson, Fears, and Bailey. Johnson and Fears have a track record of being poor defenders while Bailey seems to have a mismatch between the player he thinks he is and the player he actually is right now. In my mind, if you have a team full of winning players, you have a team that’s winning games.