After a 23-42 finish to the shortened 2019-20 NBA season, the Charlotte Hornets were not invited to participate in the bubble in Orlando. Now, the eight seeding games in Orlando are finished and the teams who did not qualify for the playoffs are gearing towards an NBA draft and offseason shrouded in mystery.
Despite having a 66% chance of landing either the eighth or ninth overall pick and just a 26% chance to jump into the top four, the Hornets landed the third-overall pick in the 2020 draft. This is the first top-three pick for Charlotte since drafting Michael Kidd-Gilchrist second overall in the 2012 NBA draft.
Kidd-Gilchrist, Adam Morrison, Emeka Okafor, Baron Davis, Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson are the only players picked in the top three by the Hornets all-time. Despite less-than-stellar careers for their most recent two top-three picks, Kidd-Gilchrist and Morrison, the rest of the crop is encouraging for the Hornets.
Okafor and Davis both had strong careers with the Hornets, while Mourning and Johnson are all-time greats. This draft is not top-heavy, but Charlotte has a great opportunity to add an effective young player to a corps that overachieved in the 2019-20 season.
Even though the Hornets missed the playoffs, the team was expected to perform much worse, with guard Terry Rozier being one of the only known commodities entering the season. Instead, last year’s lottery pick forward P.J. Washington impressed, and guard Devonte’ Graham played his way into the Most Improved Player Award conversation.
The Hornets did not qualify for the bubble, but because then-ninth-seeded Washington played so poorly in the bubble, the Hornets finished with a win percentage that would have qualified the team for one spot in the standings outside of the playoffs.
On top of Washington, Graham and Rozier, the Hornets have other intriguing young options like Cody Zeller, Miles Bridges, Malik Monk, Jalen McDaniels and NC State alumni Caleb and Cody Martin.
While the Hornets could use a good big man or scoring wing, the team may try and pivot to the best player available with such a high draft choice. Among the top of the draft: Georgia’s Anthony Edwards, Memphis’s James Wiseman, Dayton’s Obi Toppin, USC’s Onyeka Okongwu and LaMelo Ball, who played professionally overseas.
The Hornets would likely welcome any of these players if they fell into Charlotte’s lap, and players like Wiseman, Toppin or Okongwu would fit seamlessly on a team that is expected to sit at around $24 million in cap space heading into the offseason. All of these pieces ensure that Charlotte will be in the thick of the playoff race next season, no matter who they select with pick three.
Currently, the 2020 NBA draft is slated to take place on Friday, Oct. 16, but this is up in the air as of this afternoon. Former NC State players Markell Johnson and C.J. Bryce have a chance to hear their names called.
