If the Charlotte Hornets opt to go with a big during the 2019 NBA Draft, they should consider many others before Bruno Fernando.
The 2019 NBA Draft is quickly approaching, and the Charlotte Hornets own the 12th overall pick. Many fans have speculated that they will use this pick on a big man, and Bruno Fernando‘s name has come up quite a lot.
Fernando, the sophomore from Maryland, is a solid prospect, but not someone that I would personally take over many other bigs in this draft. NBADraft.net has the Hornets selecting Fernando in their most recent mock draft.
They aren’t the first to have Fernando going 12th overall to Charlotte, and they probably won’t be the last. The alarming thing to me, though, is the fact that he’s placed ahead of prospects like Brandon Clarke, Jaxson Hayes, P.J. Washington, Bol Bol and Mfiondu Kabengele.
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I personally would take all of those guys over Fernando in a heart beat, but it’s just a matter of opinion. The only judgement that truly matters is by Mitch Kupchak and the rest of the front office, because they’re the ones making the final call.
While I do like Fernando, he is more of a late-first, early-second round draft pick in my eyes. I worry about him defensively in the NBA, and he didn’t test very great at the NBA Draft Combine earlier this month.
Fernando had a standing vertical leap of 29.5, and a max vertical leap of 33.5; those numbers don’t exactly jump off the table. He moves decently laterally and considering he is already slightly undersized as a center (6’10”), it could be a struggle for him adapting to the size and length of the NBA.
He has shown some solid post moves at time, but most of his offense will come off of dunks or put backs, which isn’t a bad thing at all. I just worry about him playing against superior competition compared to what he saw in college. He’s going to have to find a way to finish through contact and around length, while also developing his outside shot.
As a freshman at Maryland, Fernando averaged 10.3 points and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 58 percent from the floor. He made some big improvements as a sophomore, bumping his averages up to 13.6 points and 10.6 rebounds at 61 percent shooting.
My two top choices for the Hornets at 12 would be Clarke and Hayes. Clarke is NBA ready and has a chance to be elite defensively, where as Hayes is more of a project, but a project that could pay off majorly down the line.
There is a possibility that the Hornets decide to trade the pick and move back in the draft, which would make Fernando a more realistic option at that point. Selecting him 12th overall may be a bit of a stretch at the moment. There are better options for them in the lottery.
If they decide to keep the pick, the Charlotte Hornets will have a bunch of options at 12th overall. I’m not a Bruno Fernando hater or anything like that; I think he will have a solid career as a backup center, but I don’t think he’s the right guy for the Hornets at twelve.