Charlotte Hornets 2021-22 preview: Scottie Lewis
By Quinn Everts
When in doubt, pick the player with the highest ceiling. That may have been the thinking amongst Charlotte Hornets brass when they selected Florida wing Scottie Lewis with the 56th pick in July’s NBA draft. But while Lewis can jump out of a gym, his raw numbers from two seasons at UF don’t jump off the page. So, was he worth a draft pick? And will he ever develop enough on one end of the floor (stay tuned to find out which end) to crack the Hornets rotation? Well, since this is a sports blog and not a fortune-telling website, maybe you should take those questions to Mitch Kupchack. Goodbye.
Kidding! Stay here and read this article!
Charlotte Hornets 2021-22 preview: Scottie Lewis
Overview
In his college career, Scottie Lewis averaged 8.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game, while shooting 44.3 percent from the field, 34.3 percent from three-point, and 75.9 percent from the free-throw line.
Needless to say, Lewis is a long-term, upside-based project. He presumably won’t contribute to the Hornets immediately, but his potential becomes evident after a deeper dive into his college stats– full breakdown of those stats is a few paragraphs below– and a quick glance at his physical profile. Lewis stands at 6’5 with a 7’0 wingspan, a 42-inch max vertical leap, a 2.98 second ¾ court sprint time (best at the NBA Combine) and a 10.45 second lane agility drill (Also best at the NBA Combine). He’s an unbelievable athlete. Patience will be key during Scottie’s development, though–he’s raw in most aspects of the game, hence falling to 56 in the Draft; the measurables above can’t be taught, but his game needs much refining before he can be an NBA-ready player.
Scottie figures to spend a majority, if not all, of his 2021-22 season in Greensboro with the Hornets G-League affiliate, the Swarm. The Hornets have depth at guard and wing, (feels weird to say that!) meaning Lewis would be hard-pressed to find minutes in Charlotte anyway. An extended stint at Greensboro is his best option this year. Regardless, he does some awfully impressive things on the basketball court that will make him easy to root for whether he’s playing in the NBA or the G-League. He also has a few seemingly fixable deficiencies, that- if he shows improvement in- can change how he fits into the Hornets future plans. At the moment, with such a backlog of young talent on the Hornets, Lewis will have to show improvement to earn a spot in those plans. On the bright side, he can improve! Anyone can! Judging a player’s career trajectory is nearly impossible, so I won’t even try.
The plan for Lewis this year should be to marginally improve on the parts of his game that need help, and continue to build on the areas he already excels in.