After checking multiple sites and reviewing a lot of game tapes I have finished my first Charlotte Hornets draft predictions for this year (2017)! Before I get into that the Charlotte Hornets have hired Mike Batiste as an assistant coach, Batiste joins the Hornets after spending last season with the Brooklyn Nets as a player development assistant. Now I got that out of the way lets dive into this shall? I looked at four different trustworthy websites to see who they had the Hornets drafting eleventh overall in this year draft. DraftExpress.com had the Hornets drafting sophomore shooting guard Luke Kennard from Duke with the eleventh pick. BleacherReport.com had them drafting Duke forward Harry Giles and both CBS Sport.com and FoxSports.com had the Charlotte Hornets drafting freshman power forward/center Zach Collins from Gonzaga.
The first player I’m going to talk about is Luke Kennard from Duke. Kennard was the 21st recruit in the 2015 high school class and was a McDonald’s All-American and USA basketball fixture who surprised a lot by developing into one of the best players in college basketball and potential lottery pick. Kennard has a solid freshman season, averaging 12 ppg (points per game) in 27 minutes. But as a sophomore, he finished as the 2nd best scorer in the ACC at 19 ppg earning him ACC first-team All-Conference honors. Strengths: Has positional size and scoring versatility who plays with a great pace, savvy ball handler. Uses size well to get to the paint for pull-ups and floaters, tough cover for opposing point guards in college. Has a pretty good head/ball fake into side step three’s or mid-range pull-ups, confident from NBA range. A big one for me plays with his head up and few turnovers! Makes quick decisions and has an excellent feel for the game. Can shoot over the top of smaller defenders. Built around his jumpers, floaters, sharp footwork, and tight handles. Can play point guard if need too. Weaknesses: Not very physical and quick enough for a guard, struggles with big wings. Can show more urgency on closeouts, takes bad angles and opens lines when defending bigger guards. Limit ball pressure, caught sleeping on ball multiple times. Will have to rely on his instincts to get by in the NBA. Kills his dribble in the paint too often, leans on his fakes, floaters a lot against smaller guards. Very predictable, jump shot in the paint, pivot to opposite shoulder. Struggles with length and in traffic, won’t explode with a full head of steam and seek contact and didn’t take many free throws at Duke. Overall: Will his game even translate in the NBA? Much less take him with the eleventh pick in the draft.
Next players is Luke Kennard teammate Duke freshman Harry Giles. Was one of the best prospects in all high school before tearing his ACL, MCL, and meniscus in his left knee. Then in his first game in his senior year of high school, he tore his ACL in his right knee. Had another minor surgery in late 2016 that delayed his collegiate debut until late December. Played behind fifth-year senior Amile Jefferson due to his late start and persistent foul trouble (I get back to that later). Only played 11½ minutes per game. Strengths: Good length and wingspan for his size (6’11”, 7’3”) also light on his feet mobile runner, shot 61% at the rim in half court; good dive man out of pick and roll, rolls with a purpose. HUSTLES. Working off the rust but still competitive and active on defense, has the feet to check power forward’s, the length to guard modern centers and can be a good rim protector. Elite offensive rebounder crashes the board aggressively, knows how to get inside position, box out and pursue with strong hands. Jump shot comes and goes needs to work on expanding his range as well but can make a jump hook with both hands. Weaknesses: Limitations on offense, limited to mostly rim runs and pick and roll dives and put backs, lacks skill in the paints. When sped up is an uncomfortable playmaker, must improve decision making and needs to slow down, catch then go up misses a lot of under the basket wide open shots. Not a treat outside 10 feet can’t utilize his quickness without a reliable jumper. Doesn’t have a great feel as pick and roll defender, bad angles. Gets beat a lot and take to many “avoidable” fouls, 7.7 fouls per 40 minutes. Loses focus too much, awareness needs to improve. Overall: Giles has untapped potential and can possibly be a good starter in the NBA if he works on his offense. He hustles and plays, for the most part, good defense (when he’s not fouling) which that’s what coach Steve Clifford loves in a player. Just worry about his past injuries and if they will be a problem down the line.
The last player is freshman power forward/center Zach Collins from Gonzaga. Zach Collins arrived at Gonzaga as a McDonald's All-American but nevertheless exceeded expectations significantly. He put up some of the best numbers in the country among freshmen on a per-minute basis and finished the season on as strong a note as you can possibly hope for, leading Gonzaga to the NCAA Tournament Championship game and playing extremely well in both Final Four games. Thus, there wasn't much surprise when Collins decided to enter the draft following the season, even though NBA scouts never quite got to see him in a featured role playing behind an All-American senior in center Prezmek Karnowski. Strengths: Has nice size for NBA power forward/center at 7-0. Light on his feet, great verticality, instincts, and timing. Agile in transitions also good in pick and roll. Quick to shooters, has feet to guard traditional power forward’s, can stay with the ball in pick and roll, recover to block at the rim; has flashes of a high motor. Has stretch potential, touch on jump hooks, a pick/pop threat has simply shooting mechanics. Good mid-range and decent face-up game. Has an average vision. Good instincts on the backboards have nose the ball. Quick to the ball on the offense boards, gets low and boxes out. Weaknesses: Average length and reach, 230 pounds get moved off the block by NBA caliber centers. Gets moved easily after catch, not overall tough. Doesn’t get great extension on post finishes. Has a bad habit of bringing the ball down in traffic. Very jumpy on defense, bites of slight shot fakes. Fundamentally sound but lacks discipline inside, really struggles vs experience, foul prone. Does need to sharpen skills to play more on the perimeter, lacks NBA range. Slow, not a dynamic stroke. Not a threat off the bounce, easy to run off. Not a perimeter playmaker. Overall: In my opinion, he looks a lot like Frank Kaminsky that can’t shoot three-pointers. Will he be able to play consistent NBA minutes? Looks more of a D-league player to me.
If I had to guess which on these three players the Hornets would mostly draft it would be Harry Giles. He just fits the Hornets profile; He hustles and plays, for the most part, good defense (when he’s not fouling) which that’s what coach Steve Clifford loves in a player. Just worry about his past injuries and if they will be a problem down the line. He does have untapped potential that maybe the Hornets can get lucky and tap into. Luke Kennard, I think will be best a decent back-up in the league if that and Zach Collins just doesn’t impress me. The Hornets need a secondary scorer to help the Hornets. The Hornets was hoping that Nicolas Batum would fill that void but Batum would rather pass then take the shot. I was hoping would tank and get a high pick because I think there some good prospect that fills that void for them but from the looks of things the Hornets just going to get another average player at best and the Hornets won’t be able to do much in free agency this year also. keep being an average team. What do you think of the three players I reviewed? Which one would you be happy with the Hornets drafting? Or should they draft someone else? Tell me in the comment section below!
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