Buzz City Beat: Donovan Mitchell thought he’d be drafted by the Charlotte Hornets
Buzz City Beat is Swarm and Sting’s one stop for the latest news and stories from around the web about the Charlotte Hornets
Rookie, Dwayne Bacon, has been recalled from the NBA G-League after being on assignment for two games with the Greensboro Swarm. (NBA.com) In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at Donovan Mitchell thinking he was going to be drafted by the Charlotte Hornets while also previewing the team’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder and recapping the Greensboro Swarm’s loss to the Texas Legends.
Donovan Mitchell thought he’d be draft by the Hornets (CharlotteObserver.com)
"“I thought I was coming here, to be honest with you,” the Utah Jazz rookie said. “I thought I did (catch the Hornets’ eye), that I’d be drafted (11th overall to Charlotte). But it didn’t work out that way, and I’m happy where I’m at. But I definitely did get that feeling at the draft.”"
After Mitchell worked out for Charlotte during the pre-draft process, all signs pointed to the Queen City team taking him at No. 11. Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post even reported that Donovan “seems ticketed to the Charlotte Hornets” on the day of the draft. Ultimately, Malik Monk fell outside the top-10 and the opportunity to draft the Kentucky product was too good for them to pass up.
Even though Donovan has taken the league by storm this season with his outstanding play and we’ll likely always wonder what could’ve been, it’s important to remember that Monk is nearly two years younger than Mitchell. Still, a backcourt duo of Kemba Walker and the Louisville product would’ve been something special. We’ll have to wait and see if this draft decision will haunt the Hornets for years to come.
Hornets vs OKC Thunder prediction (SportsChatPlace.com)
"The Charlotte Hornets are not a good basketball team, and playing on the end of a back to back makes things worse in my eyes. This is a game OKC should run away with, but of course, we’ve said that in the past. Either way, it’s the Thunder or pass for me."
OKC comes into this one riding a three-game losing streak but they will have a couple days rest while this will be the second game of a back to back for Charlotte. This will be the second and final meeting between the two sides this season after the Hornets won the first affair in Oklahoma fairly easily on December 11th. Even with how talented the Thunder are on paper, they’ve yet to put everything together so far this year.
With that being said, they are still one of the most dangerous teams in the NBA with the reigning MVP in Russell Westbrook, a superstar level player in Paul George and a 10-time all-star in Carmelo Anthony. As for Charlotte, they have a bit of momentum as they’ve won three of their last four games. If Kemba continues to play the way he has in the last few outings (27.3 PPG over the last three games), I’m picking the Hornets to win at home.
Texas Legends blowout Greensboro at G-League Showcase (Gleague.NBA.com)
"The Texas Legends (14-11) defeated the Greensboro Swarm (8-18), 109-93, on Day Three of NBA G League Showcase 2018. The Legends won the battle of points in the paint (66-46), second chance points (18-16) and fast break points (23-6). Texas used the first half to take a commanding lead 57-29 halftime lead and never looked back."
Next: 4 G-League players to sign to 10-day deals
Dwayne Bacon’s 19 points and eight rebounds weren’t enough as the Swarm lost their sixth straight game. In his second game with Greensboro, Roscoe Smith put up 14 points and five boards off of the bench. The Charlotte Hornets’ affiliate went 0-2 while at the G-League Showcase in Ontario, Canada.