The James Bouknight Conundrum
By Bruno Coelho
James Bouknight was a player who a lot of Charlotte Hornets fans were excited to see in action.
A 21-year-old crafty scorer, Bouknight was someone worth keeping an eye on. He was supposed to be the next great UConn guard to thrive in the purple and teal, yet his rookie season went practically unnoticed, and aside from the occasional high-flying highlight play he struggled to make a name for himself.
In 31 games, Bouknight tallied just 304 total minutes of playing time and averaged a lackluster 4.6 points per game, 1.7 rebounds per game and 0.8 assists per game with a shooting percentages of 34.8 from the field, 34.7 from three-point range, and 87.1 from the foul line.
Bouknight’s archetype is a volume shooter and a volume scorer. He is a great athlete that can score from all three levels of the floor and moves well without the ball. However, he needs to polish the technical aspects of his game. Being so athletic allows Bouknight to create shots from wherever he wants. More often than not, those shots are at the rim (55.8% of his total shots came from within 10 ft from the basket); however, his 34.7% shooting from three-point range shows that defenses must respect his outside shot, which makes his ability to get to the rim even more threatening.
The most significant hole in Bouknight’s offensive game is his playmaking. While this is not a deal-breaker given he is a shooting guard, it is absolutely an area in which he must improve. Bouknight constantly gets tunnel vision, and while his impressive ball-handling skills and rim pressure can bail him out, he often makes life more difficult by missing an open teammate. Bouknight does not need to average many assists per game, but the willingness to make the extra pass will do wonders for his offensive upside.
Defensively, it is hard to judge Bouknight’s abilities. The Hornets were putrid on that end, and one bad defender can make a more competent defender look helpless. However, it is safe to assume that he is not a plus defender right now and that there is a lot of room for improvement. While he is long and lengthy, Bouknight struggles with lateral quickness and screen navigation. His footwork will be challenging to improve, but a 6-foot-4 frame along with a 6-foot-8 wingspan should at least make him a non-negative on the defensive end.
After failing to earn James Borrego’s trust in his rookie season, Bouknight will look to connect with new head coach Steve Clifford. In his previous coaching stints in Charlotte and Orlando, Clifford was keen on experience and played veterans more so than younger players.
He does know, however, that the best version of the Hornets’ future is one in which Bouknight hits his ceiling and meshes with LaMelo Ball, so perhaps Clifford makes it a priority to develop Bouknight. If that does happen, Bouknight could realistically provide similar production to that of a young James Harden in his Oklahoma City Thunder days; well-rounded per game averages of 12 points, three assists, and three rebounds on solid efficiency and occasional scoring explosions are not out of the question for this season.
Bouknight is a superstar hiding in plain sight
Ultimately, Bouknight’s unique blend of scoring and athleticism gives him superstar potential. He just needs to slow the game down, but with experience, that should come. Being a team’s offensive focal point and a legitimate 20-points per game scorer are lofty goals for any player, but they are in the realm of possibility for Bouknight.