We’ve got a couple days off between games, why not? Selection Sunday was yesterday, so the basketball world is going to turn a lot of its attention to the college game for the next couple of weeks. This upcoming draft class is supposed to be one of the best we’ve seen in a long time, and it’s somewhat unique in that almost all of the top in talent are playing for big name NCAA programs that will be expected to make at least a little bit of noise in the tournament.
We’re in unfamiliar territory as Charlotte Hornets fans as we root for the team to win games instead of improve thier lottery odds. That means we’ll be in a place where there’s a lot more variance in terms of the players mocked to the Hornets. A lot of sites have published mock drafts to get the people prepared to watch NBA prospects in the big dance. We’ll do the same.
**14:** Jayden Quaintance, Big, Kentucky
**19:** Koa Peat, Forward, Arizona
ESPN has the Hornets double dipping in the front court with their two picks. Quanintance is incredibly hard to project. He’s a sophomore, but he played all of his freshman season as a 17 year old. He tore his ACL near the end of that season and has barely been able to play this season. He projects as a defensive minded, vertical spacing big, but who knows where he’s at athletically given his difficulty recovering from last year’s injury.
Peat is kind of the opposite. He’s a tweener as an undersized big or poor shooting four, not unlike Grant Williams when he was coming out of the draft. He plays the style the Hornets since he’s a smart player that fits well within a team concept, but the combination of lack of size with lack of shooting is certainly going to give pause.
**12:** Jayden Quaintance, Big, Kentucky
**19:** Yaxel Lendeborg, Big, Michigan
Sam Vecenie also has the Hornets double dipping in the front court. We talked about Quaintance, which I think is a sort of clunky fit given his question marks and redundancy with Moussa Diabate. Lendeborg is a better fit in terms of skill. He does everything as a 6’9″ big. He defends, he scores, he passes. His shot is a little shaky, but there’s potential there. But he’s going to turn 24 before his rookie season starts, and the hit rate on players like that is very, very low.
**13:** Jayden Quaintance, Big, Kentucky
**20:** Braylon Mullins, Wing, UConn
I typed the part about variety in picks before I started gathering up the picks. I’m not quite sure why everyone seems to think Quaintance is such a good fit for Charlotte, but whatever. Mullins is definitely a fit for Charlotte based on the wing players they drafted last year. They liked Liam McNeeley enough last year. Might as well just draft him again.
**13:** Karim Lopez, Wing, New Zealand Breakers (NBL)
**20:** Aday Mara, Big, Michigan
Lopez is one of the few potential lottery picks in this class that won’t play in the NCAA tournament, and that’s on account of the fact that he plays in New Zealand. He’s a big wing that’s acquitted himself very well in the league that LaMelo Ball played in as an 18 year old. He’s done a little bit of everything and held his own physically. He just needs to tighten up the outside shot a little bit.
Mara is a giant that sports a unique skill set. He’s 7’3″ and averages nearly four assists per 36 minutes while also averaging over four blocks per 36 minutes. There probably aren’t many players that check both of those boxes. He’s not a shooter and his 54% free throw percentage isn’t ideal, but you don’t draft him to be a shooter. He’d be an interesting option as a rim protector and elbow facilitator.
**13:** Yaxel Lendeborg, Big, Michigan
**20:** Nate Ament, Forward, Tennessee
Lendeborg makes another appearance as his all around skill set fits very well with what the Hornets are looking for. But again, he’s almost 24.
Nate Ament was expected to be a high lottery pick when the committed to Tennessee, but he’s seen his stock slip a little bit. The talent is enticing. He’s a good scorer that has a knack for drawing fouls, though the efficiency hasn’t always been there, and he’s a plus passer for a player that’s listed at 6’10”. He has some athletic limitations, but that’s something that can be worked with in the modern NBA.
**13:** Patrick Ngongba II, Big, Duke
**20:** Christian Anderson, Guard, Texas Tech
Ngongba, like a lot of Duke prospects, as a pretty absurd statistical profile. He generates a bunch of assists for a big as a facilitator from the top of the key, but he doesn’t get a lot of blocks or rebounds in part because he lacks a certain pop athletically. He’s a very good positional defender, but there are questions about whether or not he’ll be a bit overwhelmed by the uptick of athleticism at the NBA level.
Anderson is one of the best shooters in the draft class, and we saw how well that profile worked out for the Hornets last year. He’s a deadeye shooter from three and a very good facilitator, but he’s quite slim and struggles creating pressure inside the arc.
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