Hornets mock draft 3.0: A final prediction of what Charlotte will do with No. 2 pick
Scratch off that final day on the calendar. The NBA Draft is nearly here.
Once Victor Wembanyama reaches out his lengthy right arm and extends it to shake commissioner Adam Silver’s hand on the stage at the Barclays Center in New York on Thursday night, the focus shifts to the question left mostly unanswered until the past few days.
Will the Charlotte Hornets select Scoot Henderson or Brandon Miller?
During Wednesday’s pre-draft availability, team president/GM Mitch Kupchak indicated the Hornets were going to pick the better talent instead of reaching for best fit. So, how could it shape up?
Welcome to our third and final Hornets-only first-round mock draft. If you missed the earlier versions, here’s where you can find the first and second renditions.
First round
No. 2 pick
▪ Name: Brandon Miller
▪ Position: F
▪ Team: Alabama
In gathering information from multiple league sources, it appears the Hornets have honed in on the player tabbed as the best wing among all the draft prospects. Every indication is pointing toward Charlotte taking Miller instead of Henderson and the reasoning is multifaceted.
For one, the 20-year-old has a host of intangibles that excites Charlotte, and the Hornets think his skill set can complement LaMelo Ball. As the face of the franchise and the primary ball-handler when he’s on the floor, the feeling is the Hornets’ offense can really flourish if Ball is surrounded by more players on the perimeter who could consistently knock down jump shots, particularly beyond the 3-point line.
Miller sank 38.2% of his shots beyond the arc in his lone season with the Crimson Tide. Although it’s obviously stiffer competition in the NBA and the 3-point line is set further back, just for comparison’s sake the Hornets’ rotation players nearest that percentage are Ball (37.6) and restricted free agent PJ Washington (34.8).
Shooting is valued greatly in the NBA, as ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said earlier this week, and that gives Miller the nod in the eyes of many scouts and executives. Especially if suggestions that compare Henderson’s game to Russell Westbrook turn out to be true.
Despite Miller’s arrival overcrowding the wing position and likely forcing the Hornets to make some moves in order to alleviate the expected logjam, we are going with him as the pick instead of Henderson.
No. 27 pick
▪ Name: Olivier Maxence-Prosper
▪ Position: F
▪ Team: Marquette
After going with a wing in Miller early in the first round, further filling the team’s small forward/big guard slots, the Hornets can shift their focus to another position. They have their centers in Mark Williams and Nick Richards, leaving the strong possibility for them to grab a young combo guard. Or, hey, then again, you can never have enough combo forwards it seems, right?
So why not go with Maxence-Prosper and his reported 7-foot-1 wingspan?
He started in all 34 games this past season, raising his numbers to the tune of career bests in points (12.5), rebounds (4.7) and field-goal percentage (51.2) en route to helping the Golden Eagles claim the Big East championship and an NCAA Tournament berth. Believed to have the potential to become a 3-and-D type, Maxence-Prosper could turn out to be a late-round steal.
“I think my game is going to translate really, really well,” he told The Observer after his June 4 workout with the Hornets. “I feel like especially with my size, my versatility, my ability to defend multiple positions on the defensive end, and ability with my size, ability to stretch the floor and shoot, play transition, I think the league is becoming a position-less league.
“And I feel like a guy like me on the wing that can guard multiple positions, and come on the floor and do whatever the coach asks me to do, and impact the game and make winning plays, I feel like I can do that.”
Even though it would add to their glut of forwards, the Hornets can bring Maxence-Prosper along slowly, getting him precious on-court time in the G League with the Greensboro Swarm before completely keeping him up on their main roster consistently.
This story was originally published June 22, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
