Midseason report card: grading every Hornets player’s performance at All-Star break

Leaky Black, Grade: B-

Leaky hasn’t had the biggest impact this season, but the fact that the 24-year-old undrafted rookie out of UNC has appeared in 22 NBA games this season is pretty remarkable. That’s obviously partly due to the Hornets’ injuries and desperation this season.

But it’s also partly due to how hard Leaky has worked and how well he had to play to earn a chance. He made the most of his minutes, hitting 7 of his 15 3-point attempts, and averaging 3 assists, 6.3 rebounds, 1 block, and 0.8 steals per 36 minutes.

There’s a solid chance we have seen the last of Leaky in Charlotte for this season, but that’s ok. He needs to get more reps in the G-League, but he has proven that he can play. It would not be surprising to see him carve out a real rotation role in the NBA someday, and going into this season that would have been a pretty shocking statement.

He’s represented himself very well, become a bit of a fan favorite, garnered some incredible calls from Eric Collins (“Leeeeaaaaaaaaaakyyyyy!”), and has at least given himself a chance to see his two-way contract converted into a fully guaranteed NBA contract at some point.