Charlotte Hornets NBA Draft: Expert and fan reactions

Fan opinion of Charlotte’s draft is very positive early on as each side of the fan base appears to have gotten a player off their wishlist.

Fan opinion immediately following the draft was sky-high. Charlotte’s ability to get two first-round picks and select players that both sides of the fan base wanted proved to be a pleasing move. These could have been the only two selections and fans likely would have been very pleased with this year’s draft.

Bouknight received a lot of early praise from the fans. Those who wanted to see Kupchak bring in a high upside player with star potential absolutely loved this pick. Bouknight received an A grade from the majority of fans, reeling in 70.4% of the votes. Those who were in the camp to take Jones or another big at 11 likely weren’t too happy but their time would shortly come.

Jones must have been the consensus fan favorite as he surpassed Bouknight with receiving 75.8% with an A grade. With Charlotte’s big man situation being very underwhelming over recent years it’s no surprise that an athletic stud like Jones would have fans very excited. For those who were questioning the Hornets having to give up future assets for a raw big man, the news of how heavily protected the first-round pick was probably eased them up to accept the move.

Judging by the number of votes in the second round compared to the first, a lot of Hornet’s fans’ bedtime must have started at the beginning of round two. From what we were able to poll at Swarm and Sting, Thor was received very well earning an A grade from a majority of pollers, 54.2%. Charlotte likely got three players they had first-round grades on and if this is the case a lot of people will initially see Thor in a good light.

The addition of Lewis wasn’t seen as positively as the first three picks but that’s only natural for the 56th pick of the draft. Lewis still managed to pull out a majority grade of a B with 41%. Lewis’ defensive upside likely has fans agreeing with Kupchak that he’s worth taking a shot on that late in the draft.