Charlotte Hornets: 3 Players fans should be excited to watch this pre-season

3 Players fans should be excited to watch this pre-season: James Bouknight

What’s pre-season without excitement for your rookies? We got a taste of what James Bouknight, Kai Jones, JT Thor, and Scottie Lewis can bring to the court in this year’s NBA Summer League. Most of these guys will spend a lot of time this year with the Greensboro Swarm but if anyone is going to get consistent minutes in the Hornets rotation in their rookie year it will be Bouknight.

With the Hornets letting both Devonte’ Graham and Malik Monk go in free agency, the depth at the guard position, which was once a strength, is now a weakness. Ish Smith was signed to command some of the backup point guard duties but there are still question marks about how the Hornets are going to replace the bench scoring that Graham and Monk brought to the team.

Bouknight was seen as one of the best pure scorers in this year’s draft class and could very well be the answer to those questions. Charlotte’s staff won’t want to rush Bouknight into the rotation, his development like Jones, Thor, and Lewis will take time.

However, as a certified bucket getter, Bouknight can play himself into the rotation if he proves he can be that spark plug off the bench. His first chance will come in pre-season. During the Summer League, the staff wanted to see how good of a playmaker Bouknight can be and he was asked to carry that team.

Now he gets to play off-ball and maximize his best traits alongside some of the best playmakers in the NBA. If Bouknight can prove to be a solid rotation piece in just his rookie year that can mean a lot for Charlotte not only this season but for years to come.