Charlotte Hornets NBA Draft: Instant team draft grade reaction

The 2021 NBA Draft has finally come to a conclusion and a new class of rookies is ready to take the court for the Charlotte Hornets. Charlotte had a very eventful evening, making two trades, and swinging for the fences on players with tons of upside. This is a draft class that has the entire fan base excited about what’s to come in the future.

Starting with the trades, right before the draft started it was reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that Charlotte was trading the rights to the 57th overall pick to the Detroit Piston’s for the 37th overall pick and Mason Plumlee. During the draft, it was reported by Wojnarowski again that Charlotte would be receiving the draft rights to the 19th overall pick for a heavily protected future 1st round pick.

Charlotte ended up bringing home four draft picks in James Bouknight at 11, Kai Jones at 19, JT Thor at 37, and Scottie Lewis at 56th. Three high upside players in Bouknight, Jones, and Thor, and an athletic defensive specialist in Lewis.

Bouknight has true potential to be the Hornets co-star alongside 2020 Rookie of the Year Award winner LaMelo Ball. The pick of Bouknight likely means that Malik Monk’s time in Charlotte has come to an end as Bouknight directly fills his role of a spark bench scorer. Bouknight is super athletic and finishes at the rim very well which is something you don’t see too often from young guards. He also has elite scoring potential from all three levels so if he can develop properly Charlotte could be looking at the steal of this draft class.

Jones is an elite-level athlete who specializes in running the floor very well and is a lethal lob threat that should pair very nicely alongside the playmaking of Ball. A lot of mocks had Charlotte picking Jones at 11, and the value there was questionable at best. Being able to trade back into the first round and get him at 19 is a great move by the Hornets staff. They get a developmental center that already has the athletic ability to make a spark impact on the Hornets.

Thor is a very interesting prospect. Some experts had him as a lottery pick so getting him in the second round at 37 raises a lot of eyebrows. Thor is a high upside defensive player whose 7’3 wingspan and quickness allow him to block shots and guard the perimeter. His shooting percentages were poor, hitting 29% of his shots from three and 74% from the free-throw line but his shooting form looks good, so the Hornets staff will be hoping the shots can start to fall. Alongside Bouknight and Jones, the Hornets have likely brought in three players they had first-round grades on.

Lewis is an athletic defensive specialist who will likely be getting a two-way contract at best with Charlotte. As a wing player, Lewis averaged 1 block and 1.6 steals per game but didn’t offer much else for the Florida Gators. Lewis will likely be competing with the likes of Cody and Caleb Martin and Jalen McDaniels for a Hornets roster spot.

This was a very successful draft from Mitch Kupchak and the Charlotte Hornets. They swung for the fences and are hoping they’ve added a future star, the center of the future, and a solid role player. This is a class that will require patience. It shouldn’t be expected that any of these guys can step in and immediately start, but the future is very bright in Charlotte.