After a successful meeting, Brandon Clarke caught the attention of the Charlotte Hornets, and the team may be interested in the three-year college athlete.
This week Brandon Clarke met with the Charlotte Hornets, and the three-year college athlete believed that it went exceptionally well. Clarke played for two different college teams and played well for Gonzaga last season.
Per Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, Gonzaga’s Brandon Clarke said that his initial meeting with the Charlotte Hornets couldn’t have gone much better. This is encouraging to hear from players who are heading into the draft.
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Coach James Borrego made it known after the season was over that defense in the frontcourt was an issue for the Hornets, and that he would like to see the Hornets upgrade that part of the team. A prospect like Clarke could solve some of those issues.
There is only one problem though, Clarke is undersized for someone who plays the four spot. It would seem that he would be better at the small forward position, but Clarke lacks perimeter shooting.
If the Hornets were to select him with the 12th pick, he would play a similar role to what Michael Kidd-Gilchrist plays now. His defense is okay, but I would assume that he needs to work on his offense if he wants to further impress a team like the Hornets.
Clarke has taken a longer path to the NBA, initially playing the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons with San Jose State before transferring to Gonzaga. Last season, he averaged 16.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game.
This prospect has the ability to throw down some impressive dunks, but he needs to work on his shooting. Clarke knows that he needs to work on this, as he told reporters that he’s been working on his perimeter shooting for the past few months.
Clarke also stated that he thinks that he can guard every position the court. This is a lot of confidence coming from a prospect, and no one doubts his defensive abilities, but the only thing he lacks in the frontcourt is the size to matchup against NBA bigs.
I would assume that the Hornets may stay interested in Clarke, but there’s a lot of talent that they can choose from in this upcoming draft. After this successful meeting, Clarke should be a name that Hornets fans remember around the draft time.