The Charlotte Hornets drafted Malik Monk with the 11th overall pick in this year NBA Draft!

The Charlotte Hornets might have gotten a steal in this year NBA Draft by drafting freshmen shooting guard Malik Monk from Kentucky with the 11^th overall pick. Going into the draft most NBA insiders had the Hornets drafting either guard's Luke Kennard or Donovan Mitchell with the 11^th pick. Couple days ago ESPN insiders had Monk dropping to the Hornets and Charlotte taking him, I initially thought that’s too good to be true, either a team will draft him before we were able to or that the Hornets would pass on him and take Kennard or Mitchell instead. Lucky, I was wrong. Malik Monk was the first option on a Kentucky team that finished as the nation’s 12^th ranked offense. Was a key to the Wildcat’s run to the Elite Eight and earned All-SEC first team honors while average 19.8 points a game. Strengths: Monk is an explosive athlete in terms of both burst and leaping, highlight dunker with an explosive bounce in space. Good defender when motivated and good at close out. Dynamic Scorer, scored 30+ points four times, including a 47-point game. Deep range, confident, versatile shooter; explodes into pull ups, jumper threat opens drive. Dangerous stepping into three’s. Great contested, very confident shooter, has the quickness to lose his man off screens. Reads the defense well, good mid-range game and good crossover to get to the rim, sharp footwork. Has a score-first mentality but can make basic passes, makes the simple play. Made clutch shots all year long and is a very confident shooter. NBA-ready scoring guard with considerable upside. Weaknesses: He is undersized as a two guard at 6’3” has an average frame, not physical. Doesn’t absorb contact well when he does attack bigs, lacks the size to contain most shooting guard and even some big point guards. Effort/IQ comes and go on defense, needs to play with consistent intensity, ball watches, beat by straight line drives and takes bad angles and needs make more of an effort to keep the ball in front of him. He’s mostly limited to basic crossover/straight line drives which can make him very predictable. Not good with ball pressure. Reliance questionable shot leads to inconsistent efficiency, wants jumpers over assists doesn’t hit the open pop. Doesn’t let plays develop/recognize lacks spacing.

Charlotte had the 31^st pick from the Atlanta trade early in the week and the Hornets drafted guard Frank Jackson from Duke but traded him to the New Orleans Pelicans for the 40^th pick and cash. And with the 40^th pick, the Charlotte Hornets drafted small forward Dwayne Bacon from Florida State. Played alongside 6^th overall pick (Orlando Magic) Jonathan Isaac, Bacon could highlight his offensive versatility and his efficiency from the floor. As a sophomore, Bacon held an average 23.9 points, 5 rebounds per 40 minutes. Strengths: Listed at 6-7. 6-9.5 wingspan, nice size for a wing. Can absorb contact and finish. A physical defender, capable rebounder for a wing. Ability to challenge shots with length. Is an elite scorer in transition, confident shooter and can attack in transition after defensive rebound and has sound shooting mechanics. Creates space for pull ups. Is NBA ready in terms of scoring and physicality and could possibly become a reliable 2^nd unit guard? Weaknesses: Struggles to create vs NBA-level length and athletes, an average athlete with questionable shot selection. Lacks explosiveness at the rim. The inconsistent three-point shooter, not a consistency shooter in general. Inconsistent defense effort doesn’t play in a stance, lacks focus off the ball, lose shooters. Needs the ball in his hands to make an impact on offense. Has a low basketball IQ, can he think at the NBA level?

Overall, I think the Hornets knocked it out of the park this year in the draft. Especially over the past drafts where we had failed miserly. I think Malik Monk can be a factor for the Hornets for years to come and help unload some of the scorings from Kemba Walker also. Also, gives them a player who is explosive and a dynamic scorer which the Hornets needed to badly. The trade the Hornets made also makes sense, they needed money because they were getting close to reaching the tax threshold and would not surprise me if we trade for an experienced backup point guard. Drafting Dyane Bacon was probably the best player they could get at the selection, I see him playing for the Greensboro Swarm, especially since we have Jeremy Lamb, Treveon Graham, and Malik Monk. Like I said I generally think the Hornets did a great job in this year draft, I haven’t felt this way about the Hornets after the draft in a long time. And with the trade to bring in Dwight Howard as the starting center, if the Hornets can get a reliable back-up point guard I believe they can make the playoffs again. Well, that’s what I think about the Charlotte Hornets draft, what do you think about it? Tell me in the comment section below! And Gives this a thumbs up!

Charlotte Hornets and the Atlanta Hawks agreed upon a deal to send center Dwight Howard to Charlotte!

Only hours after the Charlotte Hornets and Atlanta Hawks were making trades for ‘snap with a puppy filter’ and ‘right to swap ’18 draft tweets’ on Twitter. The Hornets and Hawks have agreed to a deal to send center Dwight Howard and the 31^st pick for center Miles Plumlee and guard Marco Belinelli and the 41^st pick. First reported by the great Adrian Wojnarowski, the trade came out of nowhere with no one even disgusting the idea of the Hornets making any kind of deals before the draft. The trade is great for the Hornets on many fronts in my opinion. The first front is the fact that we got rid of Plumlee ridiculous 3 years 12 million per year contract. I know whenever we traded for him midway through the season that I said the trade was great, which it was because we got rid of both Roy Hibbert and Spencer Hawes who both terrible and at the time I was for the most OK with the bad contract if Plumlee was able to come off the bench and score points for the Hornets, something the other two players did not do and help the Hornets make the playoffs. But for most of the season Plumlee was bothered by an ankle injury and when he was able to come back, Hornets playoffs chances were all but dead. I know Dwight contract isn’t much better, 2 years 23 million per year. But is a possible starter who averaged 13 points per game last season and even not in his prime anymore a way better player than Plumlee. Howard contract times really well for Kemba free-agency, Miles extra year could’ve really messed things up for Charlotte. Dwight Howard best season was when Hornets head coach Steve Clifford was on the coaching staff helping him personally if anyone who can get him to play well it's Clifford. Also with this trade, the Hornets moved up to have the first pick in the second round. With this year draft being so deep the Hornets could possibly get someone that could be a decent bench player. Charlotte did have to give up Marco Belinelli who I liked, mostly because of his crazy circus three-pointers and Eric Collins reactions to them, however Jeremy Lamb looked like he was finally getting his crap together in the second of last season and with this season being a contract year for him I imagine he wants to go out and prove to teams that they should sign him in free agency. The only question I have after this trade is who is going to Hornets starting center, Cody Zeller, or Dwight Howard?

To keep the good news coming ESPN Chad Ford new mock draft came out today and he’s taking the Hornets to draft point guard Malik Monk from Kentucky! Malik Monk is a dynamic scorer and an elite shooter. While he’s a tad undersized (6’3), Monk finds ways to create space and shoot over defenders. He has an excellent pull-up jumper and he’s comfortable shooting off screens. He also has unlimited range. While most identify him as a perimeter shooter, Monk is very agile and can explode to the hoop. He’s fearless and always in attack mode. He plays with relentless energy and is fairly crafty when he accelerates inside. Because of his size, some wonder if Monk can transform into a point guard. While his court vision and game management need improvement, Monk is more unselfish that he gets credit for. Who I believe will be good in the NBA and would be a great backup point guard or even starter for the Hornets next season.

What do you think of this trade and the new mock draft? Tell me in the comment section below! And make sure to check back here Thursday after the draft to read what I have to think about the moves the Hornets will make. For me. It’s so far so good!