Perk of the NBA’s restart? The Charlotte Hornets just secured another 2020 draft pick
The Charlotte Hornets finally got some benefit from the NBA restart.
The Hornets will have two second-round picks in the Oct. 16 draft, thanks to the Boston Celtics going 5-2 so far in the restart on Disney’s campus south of Orlando, Fla. At 48-23, the Celtics have clinched one of the NBA’s seven-best records, meaning their second-round pick (protected through No. 53) goes to the Hornets as part of the Kemba-Walker-Terry Rozier sign-and-trade in July.
That takes a bit of the sting out of the Hornets having to send a pick they control — Brooklyn’s second-rounder — to the Celtics in the Oct. 16 draft. That’s compensation for the Celtics facilitating the Hornets’ ability to sign Rozier to a 3-year, $57 million contract last summer.
Without the Celtics’ help, the Hornets couldn’t have signed Rozier. The Celtics had the financial flexibility to sign Walker without the Hornets’ help.
The Hornets now have their own lottery pick in the first round (lottery will be held Aug. 20), the Cleveland Cavaliers’ second-round pick (32nd overall) and the Celtics’ pick late in the 60-player draft.
The Cavs’ pick came to Charlotte from the Los Angeles Clippers in the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander-Miles Bridges trade. The Hornets’ 2020 second-round pick (39th overall) goes to the New York Knicks as part of the trade that brought Willy Hernangomez to Charlotte in 2018.
Players chosen in the 50s are iffy even to make the teams that draft them, but Hornets rookie Jalen McDaniels, who was drafted 52nd a year ago, was in the Hornets’ rotation in March. Kupchak had a solid history with second-round picks when he oversaw the Los Angeles Lakers.
Everything about the NBA’s pre-draft process was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The league rescheduled the lottery for Aug. 20 and it will reportedly be held virtually. The Hornets have a 6 percent chance of landing the top pick in the weighted lottery process.
The draft was pushed back to Oct. 16 after the anticipated end of the NBA’s restarted season. The league hasn’t yet announced whether the combine or individual player workouts will be allowed.
