2019 Draft Discussion

[LofJ]

I'd take Little over Reddish. I feel better about Little when it comes to confidence and ability to fight through struggles.

[KingCat]

I know this might sound weird but there is something about Rui Hachimura that reminds me a lot of Kawhi Leonard.

Well they do have very similar builds and both of their go to moves are the pull up from mid range. I hight doubt Rui is ever gonna be Kawhi level but his upside potential is super high.

[GiggitySmalls]

Top3 for our pick.

1.little
2.rui
3.NAW

[fatlever]

claxton anyone? seems like a late riser. big w/ potential on both ends.

[fatlever]

Read on Twitter

[KingCat]

Almost every mock has us taking Hayes or Rui. I really hope Atlanta takes Hayes before we can. I don't dislike him as a prospect; but I could see him being absolutely useless on our team while striving for Atlanta

[JDR720]

I think this is the first draft I haven't cared at all about who we pick. I expected Miles last draft, I dont even have a guess on this one.

[KingCat]

Yeah I can’t really recall a draft that has such as realistic range of prospects available to us. While others say this draft is weak, I think this group is going to have a few sleeper picks like a Donovan Mitchell, Paul George, Jrue Holiday, Jokic etc. I pray to god that for once we get the pick that makes people say “damn I can’t believe this guy fell all the way to 12” rather than the usual “lmao I can’t believe the Hornets passed over that guy”

[316Hornets]

I'm on the Brandon Clarke train. Let's go!

[UNCNYC]

Ok Guys it's draft day and my picks are in. I was going to spend all day looking but why should I. Thats the benefit of being a bootleg GM is that I can take a nap lol. Well I am going to go with

#12 - Samanic
#36 - Obeisie
#52 - Cook

I also took Samanic because he is not your TYPICAL HORNETS drafted player. I wanted to shake things up.

And I would try my hardest to invite BJ Taylor to camp and sign him to a 2 way. I woulda took Naw but I will just go and sign Kemba instead. So This is our new roster after 2 years if I were GM

kemba / BJ Taylor
Zhairre / Lamb
Bacon / Obeisie / Pinson
Samanic / YuTa / Frank
Cook / Biz / Zeller

[LofJ]

claxton anyone? seems like a late riser. big w/ potential on both ends.

He's a poor man's Joakim Noah, but with more spacing potential at the moment. Other than Hayes (and maybe Fernando) he has the most defensive potential of any big in this draft. He is nimble, he can step out to defend on the perimeter and recover to contest. He can also pass the ball, which is a skill I absolutely love to see from a big.

The rumor is that he has a promise from the Hawks to get taken with their 17th pick. So there's a chance that they'll skip over Hayes and he'll drop to us at 12.

[Snidely FC]

My Top 3 at 12:
1. Goga Bitadze
I understand the value argument against centers in the lottery...but not for Centers with an advanced two-way skillset like Goga.

The question that we need to ask with Bitadze is the same one that needs to be asked of all bigs in the draft: is he going to be good enough to provide significant value above replacement? The basketball world is oversaturated with quality bigs, and the 2019 draft is loaded with bigs who look like NBA players. Rotation and even starting-caliber bigs are perpetually available for small deals or even the minimum. Because of this, it just doesn’t make sense to use valuable draft capital on bigs with easily replaceable skill-sets. Teams need to target players with unique skills who have the potential to be legitimately impactful. I’m not sure how eager I’d be to use a first round pick on Daniel Gafford given the ease with which players like him can be found. Barring outlier skill development, it’s hard to see Gafford performing significantly above replacement level. I believe in Bitadze as a prospect because the package he potentially offers is not one that is commonly found on the scrap heap. Two-way centers with significant skill upside don’t grow on trees, nor do players with Bitadze’s intersection of physical tools and IQ.

After visibly working on his shot and improving his body, Bitadze had arguably the most productive Adriatic League season ever for someone his age and was one of Euroleague’s better defensive bigs on loan with Buducnost. Bitadze is a solid bet to shoot, defend, and pass at an NBA level and has shown brief flashes of shot versatility and ball handling. Don’t underestimate how valuable that is.

If nothing else, we should not overlook teenagers posting big numbers in Euroleague.

(19 yo Goga broke Luka Doncic's record for highest ever PER for a teenager in Euroleague last season):

2. PJ Washington
Would be happy with PJ

PJ Washington has dribble-pass-shoot upside for a big, while being a solid defender. His 3-point shooting took place in a small sample size this year, but I’m buying it. The from looks good and he looked really confident stepping into shots. His passing is what impressed me most, though. He showed really impressive ability to pass on the move, which isn’t a terribly common thing for bigs.

3. Romeo Langford
Big dropoff here but would be happy with anyone other than Porter, Jr or Bol Bol. Give the nod to Romeo. He played most of the season with a torn thumb ligament in his shooting hand. Other players would have shut it down to protect their draft rank. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt that he turns into a better shooter than that hand allowed, because we don't have a wing like him on the team.

That said, at 6’6 with a +5 wingspan he’s a decent team defender, strong on-ball defender, possesses elite touch, and has some positive indicators for his shooting coming back around. Legitimately good defensive wing prospects that can handle, make unassisted twos, and have the soft touch Langford has are almost always worth a lottery pick.

[-Ian-]

I want us to draft Rui Hachimura.

As an Asian, I'd love to have him because he'd become the next torchbearer of Asia after Yao Ming. His presence will likely boost our team's international media mileage and will bring us more "fans" like the time Jeremy Lin was with us (perhaps minus the delusional fans lol).

As a Hornets fan, I like his upside and he can serve as an insurance for Miles Bridges. I like Miles the most among our young guys but his agent is Rich Paul and I don't trust that ****. He might get in Miles' ear one day and tell him to go elsewhere (Bla Bla Land).

[Bassman]

claxton anyone? seems like a late riser. big w/ potential on both ends.

Don’t want him at 12, too high. Has some bright spots but not a high ceiling guy. Picking in the 20’s maybe. JMO.

[Snidely FC]

Hornets have three picks. Someone give me someone to cheer for for our second rounders.

For each pick, let's hear best case scenario for someone who only semi-unreleastically will be there so I can cheer for someone to drop, then a safety pick of someone who will likely be there.

36 is going to be where the best value is in the draft, lots of good players might fall
Grant Williams would be amazing here
Chuma Ukeke might be here due to injury, would be incredible value
Talen Horton-Tucker is another I've seen fall this low in mocks, analytics love him
Luka Samanic
The safe pick, esp if we go wing at 12, is probably Bruno Fernando or Daniel Gafford (whichever is left)

51 its conceivable Jontay Porter falls this far (due to ACLs) would be a steal
Alen Smailagic would be fun
safe pick: Jaylen Nowell

[LofJ]

Jalen Lecque is another guy we should take a hard look at in the 2nd. He had the same HS coach as Donovan Mitchell and he's a top 5 athlete in this class.

[Eoghan]

I just want to draft a guy with a funny or hard to pronounce name to make Eric Collins commentary more entertaining.

[Robot Rock]

There have been tons of Duke players over the last several years that I would have killed to have on this team, but we haven't been in a position to draft them. You're crazy if you don't think that MJ and Mitch would have jumped at the chance to draft Ingram, Irving, Parker, Zion, etc. had they been on the board when the team was drafting in those respective drafts. There is no bias for UNC players, there's no evidence of that since MJ bought the team and took over.

He would have taken Irving and Zion, the others are questionable.

Had an opportunity to get Justise. Got Frank.

[Robot Rock]

I want Nassir Little so I can have another likeable try-hard wing to cheer and have irrational optimism for.

Wallace > MKG > Little

3rd times the charm right?

You'll likely get your wish. This board will spend years trying to make Little happen just like it did with MKG.

[-Ian-]

I just want to draft a guy with a funny or hard to pronounce name to make Eric Collins commentary more entertaining.

We're going with Goga Bitadze then.