No. 1 – He was a safer option compared to others
We’ve all heard the saying “I’d rather be safe than sorry” before during our life, and that may have been the case for the Charlotte Hornets when they were selecting PJ Washington during the 2019 NBA Draft.
Yes, sometimes in this business you have to take risks, but passing on a polished player like Washington for a project would have been difficult, especially for a team like the Hornets, who were searching for an instant contributor. Washington can play right away, and the consensus from many around the league was that he is going to have a good career.
The Hornets could have easily went with a guy like Sekou Doumbouya, or Nassir Little, or even Kevin Porter Jr, but there’s no telling how those guys will pan out. They could all very well turn into stars, but the Hornets didn’t want to risk an important pick for a project. Doumbouya was enticing, but the other two fell down the draft board for a reason.
Washington has an NBA skill set and has all the attributes to be in the NBA for a long time. Like I said, he’s a modern-day big man that a lot of teams coveted during the draft process.
It was a long draft process, but at the end of the day, I think the Charlotte Hornets did a really good job during the 2019 NBA Draft. They didn’t force any trades causing them to lose assets, they got a really good player in the lottery, and they did well in the second round as well.
Shout out to Mitch Kupchak for his second really good draft as a member of the Charlotte Hornets organization.