RealGM

Who fits in Charlotte given a young core of LaMelo Ball - James Bouknight - Miles Bridges - PJ Washington - Kai Jones - JT Thor?

One of jalen duren and Mark Williams as the centre. Other one is whoever is available bpa.

Mark Williams would be my pick for the Hornets at 13

im not a huge Bouknight guy so at 15 i'd go best 2 guard available, Sharpe, Davis, Mathurin or Christie whoever is available.

I would just grab BPA for both. I wouldn't grab lets say a big for fit if someone better is on the board.

Only two players have made themselves matter so far on the Hornets: LaMelo and Miles.

I would like to see them draft Dyson Daniels. If they can trade up for Sharpe, they should. If they can trade up for Duren, they should. I also like Jeremy Sochan and Tari Eason. Even if they are able to draft a Duren or get lucky into the top 4, I would like them to spend the season letting all their young bigs get major minutes and not worry about their record. Put the pressure on Melo to be the leader instead of being so aloof.

clyde21 wrote:Mark Williams would be my pick for the Hornets at 13

im not a huge Bouknight guy so at 15 i'd go best 2 guard available, Sharpe, Davis, Mathurin or Christie whoever is available.

Id also like to see them target Mark Williams with one of the picks. If they get him Id like to see them use the other pick on the most talented player in the 6'6"-6'9" height range that projects to be a plus defender, so someone like Daniels/Eason/Sochan/etc.

Right now it looks like the other center options in that range would be a reach, so if Williams is off the board it looks like they'd be best off drafting two wing size players since it looks like BPA in that range will mostly be defensive oriented wings, which is their other big need besides center.

I'm not counting on Kai or Bouk at this point and don't think they should be factoring those guys in when they make their picks.

I'd pick BPA at 13, and best center at 15. As prospects, I think Duren, Williams, and Kessler are equally risky, and at least one (if not all) of them will be available at 15. My mock has Charlotte going:
13. Sochan
15. Williams

Duren or Mark Williams.

They'd get laughed at but I dont think taking Mark Williams and Duren is a bad idea. Their games are completely different so if both pan out you can flex in/out based on matchups.

Williams or Kessler with one of the picks. Offer the other pick with Rozier for Brogdon.

what do yall think is the highest pick we could get for 13/15 combined

also my wet dream is coming out of the draft with Duren and Sharpe
yolo

Ya I hate not adding anything new, but to me the obvious answer to the #1 guy the Hornets should be looking at is Mark Williams. I think there is a considerable gap between Mark and the next true 5 in this draft. Elite rim protector, elite length, very good mobility, fantastic defensive awareness and timing. The other thing with him as well is his good FT shooting and natural touch the times when he does shoot it. So I think there is solid potential he can be a solid shooter.

And with the 5 being easily the biggest hole with this team, I just feel like Mark is the obvious answer for them with one of their picks.

Duren can end up being another Bam Adebayo. Probably the best fit for the Hornets.

Kai Jones will be their 5. People forgot he was drafted because Borrego refused to play him. When he finally does start people will realize how dumb Borrego was for not playing him and how absurd it is to suggest the smaller Duren should be drafted to be their center. Now, if you want to take Williams and play Jones at the 4 in a JJJ type role then that makes sense. If I’m CHA I’m taking a 3 and D wing to eventually replace Hayward or Bridges if he leaves, with the other pick.

KembaWalker wrote:what do yall think is the highest pick we could get for 13/15 combined

also my wet dream is coming out of the draft with Duren and Sharpe
yolo

7 or 8 I reckon.

BostonCouchGM wrote:Kai Jones will be their 5. People forgot he was drafted because Borrego refused to play him. When he finally does start people will realize how dumb Borrego was for not playing him and how absurd it is to suggest the smaller Duren should be drafted to be their center. Now, if you want to take Williams and play Jones at the 4 in a JJJ type role then that makes sense. If I’m CHA I’m taking a 3 and D wing to eventually replace Hayward or Bridges if he leaves, with the other pick.

Borrego didn't buck management. The organization reached consensus about the development timeline for Kai the day he was drafted. Their projections matched Borrego's handling of Kai. He needs an NBA body. I do like him as a versatile 5 who can close and switch to the perimeter like JJJ, recover and protect the rim. Drop back centers like Adams are once again getting played off the floor.

As far as pick 13, I would consider the Cavs have pick 14 and could steal a player I want at 15. That is why I would take Ochai Agbaji 13 and hold off on Williams who I love as a classic rim protector. He erases the rim. But with Allen and Mobley, Cavs aren't taking Williams. He will be there 15. Cavs might take Agbaji though. He has guard skills and they need that. He could be an upgrade to Okoro. We could use Agbaji as a wing defender and backup PG down the road, and let Cody Martin walk. He's a senior and ready to join a rotation right now. We need to save money on Martin and maybe try to trade him for picks like Graham.

So my strategy would be Agbaji 13 and Williams 15. I would still offer the MLE (4 years 44.5 million) to Nic Claxton and hope to start Claxton, back him with Kai and Williams. Throw in JT Thor and Jalen McDaniels and we have some interesting closing lineups with our frontcourt.

baldur wrote:

KembaWalker wrote:what do yall think is the highest pick we could get for 13/15 combined

also my wet dream is coming out of the draft with Duren and Sharpe
yolo

7 or 8 I reckon.

As a Portland fan I'd be tempted to trade #7/#8 for #13 and #15, if Smith, Paolo, Chet, Ivey and Murray are all off the board when we pick.

I think that's the best hope you'd have trading up in this year's Draft.

Dame Lizard wrote:

baldur wrote:

KembaWalker wrote:what do yall think is the highest pick we could get for 13/15 combined

also my wet dream is coming out of the draft with Duren and Sharpe
yolo

7 or 8 I reckon.

As a Portland fan I'd be tempted to trade #7/#8 for #13 and #15, if Smith, Paolo, Chet, Ivey and Murray are all off the board when we pick.

I think that's the best hope you'd have trading up in this year's Draft.

I don't think I would. There is a drop off in talent around that part part of the draft and I think it's generally better to get our top choice of tier 2 prospects.

Tier 1: picks 1-4
Chet, Smith, Ivey, Paolo

Tier 2: picks 5-11
Murray, Griffin, Mathurin, Sharpe, Duren, Eason, Davis

Tier 3: 12- 17ish (this tier is likely to change the most as we get closer to the draft)
Ty Ty, Williams, Daniels, Brown, Sochan, Kessler



Of course, if I'm wrong and someone like Eason will be there at 13 then I could see dropping down and sending 15 to Detroit as part of a Grant package. But as it stands I think the Blazers are right at the beginning of a sweet spot in the draft and mostly get our pick of the litter from there.

Am I alone in slightly preferring Kessler to Williams? In the vids I've watched he looks more agile on defense. His defensive impact metrics are also better. His shooting needs a lot of work though and they're close enough defensively for that to be a sticking point. So I guess it would come down to preference and intangibles. I think they're both being underrated a bit, they were both McDonald's All-Americans in last year's stacked draft class. Duren has a higher ceiling than both of them because of his athleticism, but I'd be happy with any of the 3.

Other than one of those guys I'd like the team to target Dyson Daniels. He fits a team need in perimeter defense, he fits the offensive scheme with his plus passing, and he should be able to contribute off the bench while he develops. If he's not there Ochai Ogbaji would be the fall back.

LofJ wrote:Am I alone in slightly preferring Kessler to Williams? In the vids I've watched he looks more agile on defense. His defensive impact metrics are also better. His shooting needs a lot of work though and they're close enough defensively for that to be a sticking point. So I guess it would come down to preference and intangibles. I think they're both being underrated a bit, they were both McDonald's All-Americans in last year's stacked draft class. Duren has a higher ceiling than both of them because of his athleticism, but I'd be happy with any of the 3.

Other than one of those guys I'd like the team to target Dyson Daniels. He fits a team need in perimeter defense, he fits the offensive scheme with his plus passing, and he should be able to contribute off the bench while he develops. If he's not there Ochai Ogbaji would be the fall back.

Williams has a much higher ceiling on offense IMO. No guarantee but he has a nice form on his J and much better offensive awareness. Kessler is more of a simple pick setter and garbage man on offense.

Walker has a uniquely special trait in his ability to time blocks insanely well with either hand, but outside that Williams is the superior prospect IMO w/ a higher ceiling.

End of the day I think Williams ends up Top-15 and Kessler closer to 20-25. Kessler might be the better prospect if you value rim protection above all and want a C who isnt going to care if he gets the ball much if at all, but still should be a later pick IMO.