Charlotte Hornets: Early NBA Draft writers round-table discussion
What is the Charlotte Hornets’ biggest draft need?
Giovanni Spillman: For the past couple of seasons the biggest need has been in the Hornets frontcourt. Both centers on the roster are set to become unrestricted free agents this offseason. It’s important for the Hornets to upgrade their frontcourt with a center if there is a quality option available. However, the Hornets really need to go defensive in this draft. A rebounding big that can defend the paint would be ideal.
Shawn Simmons: I am going to go with scoring. This is an area the Hornets struggle with now even when the entire roster is healthy. Outside of Devonte’ Graham, Terry Rozier, LaMelo Ball, Malik Monk, Gordon Hayward, and PJ Washington, the Hornets don’t have a lot of guys that you can count on to create their own offense and score consistently. I do not mean to slight Miles Bridges. He is grown capable of hitting spot jumpers and scoring in transition, but he is not someone who can create his own offense or that head coach James Borrego is going to call plays for. As good as these individuals are and how good they can develop to be, that is not going to be good enough for this team to consistently contend for a playoff spot and advance out of the first round. Imagine if the Hornets lost one or two of these players from now through free agency next offseason, the situation would be even more dire.
Josh Anderson: I believe that the Hornets’ biggest need in the draft is a shooting guard. While they lack depth in the center position, they did draft Vernon Carey Jr. in last year’s draft, and so I believe that they need to find another pure shooter. With the way the league is going, the Hornets are going to need to adapt to that style of play.
Reilly Biller: The biggest need in this year’s draft is a power forward who can stretch the floor but also finish around the rim. They need a lengthy guy that has a unique skill set who can improve this team on both sides of the court. P.J. Washington is not that guy. Cody Zeller has proven for a while now not to be that guy either.
Anthony Boscia: The Hornets still have a decent amount of needs, but in my opinion, the most glaring needs as of right now are another 3-and-D wing, or a 5. While the center position for the Hornets probably has the least amount of upside out of any position currently, I think with the big man being a diminishing role, another 3-and-D wing with some size who can hopefully create his own shot as well as the biggest need right now. The Hornets could also roll PJ out at the 5 then have a lineup of Ball-Terry-Wing-Hayward-PJ which sounds really good honestly. An exception though would be Evan Mobley, he could be an absolute huge acquisition at the 5 if the Hornets could somehow be in a position to land him come draft night.
Josh Flenniken: Biggest need this year is obviously a center who can anchor the defense and play pick and roll with LaMelo. In a perfect world, he could eventually stretch the floor a little as a shooter too, but that’s a lot harder to find. A secondary need is a 3 and D wing who can guard 2-4.
Tyler Reed: The biggest need in my opinion is a player at the five. The Hornets have depth at guard and are in desperate need of another player at the five. The team ranks in the bottom 10 for defensive rebounding this season. At the same time, the Hornets should also look into other offensive weapons. The Hornets are ranked 18th in the league in offensive efficiency.
Emmett Ball: I think that the obvious answer would be to go after a rim-protecting center because of the contract of Cody Zeller expiring. I think they should go that route if they do not pick one up via trade. However, if they were to go a different route, I think a true scoring wing would be a great addition with the uncertainty of Malik Monk this offseason.