3 players the Charlotte Hornets should target with the 27th draft pick
By Adam Taylor
#2 Andre Jackson Jr.
The Charlotte Hornets finished the regular season ranked 20th in defensive rating, as they struggled to find a balance when trying to contain their opponents. It makes sense, then, that Mitch Kupchak could be sold on a legitimate wing defender who could improve the team’s rotation from day one.
With that in mind, Andre Jackson Jr. could be just what the Hornets need. In his latest NBA Draft Big Board, The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor wrote a glowing report regarding Jackson Jr’s defensive upside.
"“Tone-setting defender with excellent athleticism who is always focused off the ball and sits in his on-ball stance like a player who craves stops. And, in fact, he gets those stops against both guards and wings. If he can’t prevent a player from penetrating the paint, he remains engaged enough to activate his elite athleticism for high-flying blocks. Don’t move your eyes off the screen when there’s a rebound opportunity because Jackson makes some genuinely awesome plays on the boards, skying over defenders to snatch the ball.”"
At six-foot-six with a six-foot-ten wingspan, Jackson Jr. has the size and length to succeed at the NBA level, especially if he replicates the intensity he displayed throughout this past season with UConn. However, when selecting this late in the draft, no player is perfect, and the drawback for Jackson Jr. is likely to be his offensive skillset, having averaged just 6.7 points per game this past year.
Still, you don’t draft a player like Jackson Jr. for his offense – instead, you bring him into a core that already has its primary scorers in place, and ask him to help improve the team’s perimeter defense and overall defensive versatility.