The 2021 NBA Draft took place Thursday night. It was the 75th year of the event. The NBA teams make selections of amateur basketball players from the United States colleges, other eligible players as well as international players.
The Charlotte Hornets had four picks in the NBA Draft, two in the first-round, 11th and 19th and two in the second-round, 37th and 56th. Here are their selections.
With the 11th pick, the Hornets selected James Boucknight. Bouknight is a sophomore from the University of Connecticut. He averaged 19 points per game and was All Big East last season. Although his shooting wasn’t the best in college, he improved by the time he started working out for teams, displaying his potential.
Bouknight brings a much needed scoring lift to the Hornets guard/wing rotation and he will fit in seamlessly with Lonzo Ball and Terry Rozier. He has the capabilities to bring it every night on defense.
Charlotte has had success in years past drafting second-year college players such as Miles Bridges and PJ Washington. They also drafted a great player in Kemba Walker out of UConn. Bouknight fits into both of those categories.
The Hornets moved up in the draft to get the 19th pick and they drafted Kai Jones out of Texas. Charlotte had to trade a future first-round protected pick to make this move possible.
Jones is a very athletic big man who can block shots and defend the paint. He is also versatile enough to defend perimeter players. Jones has shown potential to have a good jump shot and can also space the floor for other shooters. He needs some time to work on his game, but he has Mason Plumlee, a solid NBA center to learn from. Jones and Bouknight have filled positions of need for the Hornets.
With the 37th pick, the Hornets chose JT Thor from Auburn. He is one of the drafts youngest players, turning 19 in August. Thor shows good potential with his measurable, but is very raw at this early stage of his career. He has a good left hand stroke from downtown and can get after it on the defensive end of the floor.
The Hornets have shown that they have a good player development system. Thor has the skills to make the program work for him and make significant improvements in his game.
Charlotte finished their draft by selecting Scottie Lewis with the 56th overall pick. Lewis was a top 10 projected player coming out of high school, but things never panned out while he was at Florida for two seasons. Lewis has good-to-great athleticism, but he has a lot of work to do to get his play where it needs to be. He fits in the same box as the other selections the Hornets made at the draft, an abundance of talent but their game could use refining. There’s a chance that Lewis might not make the team to begin next season. He may have to spend some time in the G League before possibly being called up.
The Hornets had a draft that could benefit them now and in the future. Only time will tell.
