The 2023 offseason presented a chance for the Charlotte Hornets to acquire a generational talent. However, they left the draft lottery ruing the missed opportunity to land Victor Wembanyama.
Still, securing the No. 2 pick despite having the fourth-best odds to win the lottery was a good enough consolation for the Hornets. They had plenty of options, eventually using the selection on Brandon Miller. After two years, it's evident that Charlotte made the right decision, as the University of Alabama product has turned out to be the second-most talented player of the 2023 draft class.
Some may not know that the Hornets had another pick later in the first round, courtesy of a three-team trade in the summer of 2022 that saw franchise legend Kemba Walker move from the New York Knicks to the Detroit Pistons and Charlotte receive various picks, including the 2023 first-rounder that ended up at the No. 27 spot.
Hornets took a chance on a freshman from Arkansas
In an interesting turn of events, Buzz City used the pick on Nick Smith Jr., whose scouting report described him as a combo guard with impressive length and athleticism. However, there were some concerns with the University of Arkansas product's shooting as he sank only 33.8 percent from beyond the arc in his lone season with the Razorbacks.
Smith Jr. had a solid rookie campaign in the NBA, putting up 5.9 points per game and converting 43.2 percent of his shots from deep.
This year, he has been given more opportunity to strut his stuff, especially with the Hornets getting stung hard by the injury bug. But aside from some occasional offensive outbursts from the second-year pro, Smith Jr. has struggled to find his footing in the league.
It's not as if the coaching staff has not provided him with playing time. In fact, he has started in 24 of his 45 appearances so far in the regular season. Unfortunately, he has recorded just 8.8 points per contest on 38.1 percent shooting. Making it worse is the 20-year-old guard's regression in his efficiency from long distance. He has made just 30.6 percent of his shots from that range.
A look at his splits doesn't inspire much confidence that he can become productive in whatever role the coaching staff could assign him moving forward. In the meetings in which he suited up for at least 30 minutes, Smith Jr. has scored 15.6 points per match on 42.2 percent but has been abysmal on defense, registering a defensive rating of 125. In his other games, his field-goal percentage has significantly dipped to 33.0 percent.
Of course, the Hornets probably had limited options when they were on the clock for the second time in the 2023 draft. The other prospects who deserved consideration with the benefit of hindsight were Julian Strawther and GG Jackson. Perhaps the best Charlotte could have done was swap the pick for future assets.
Still, Smith Jr. has time to prove the criticisms about him wrong, but it will be an uphill battle for him because next season, he will have plenty of competition for minutes, which can possibly include Tre Mann, Damion Baugh, and DaQuan Jeffries.