Bouk 'Em, Danno: The James Bouknight Thread

[Braggins]

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That last line of the quote is sticking with me. No chance in hell Monk and Graham are both staying.

His role will be too similar to Monk and Rozier, so I feel like its one of them that will go (obviously will be Monk).

[JDR720]

Strengths
- Nice size and length for a scoring guard at 6-5. Good, open-court player. Plays above the rim with relative ease. Has the feet and length to be a plus defender in time, especially against point guards. Good positional rebounder. Shows you glimpses defensively.
- One of the best scorers in the country. Smooth with the ball in his hands. Changes speeds and directions impressively. Shotmaker who can get to his pull-up out of a variety of different moves. Elite hesitation move going left.
- Creative finisher. Uses deception really well in the paint. Can finish off of either foot with either hand and has a floater game.

Improvement areas
- Had a tendency to fade in and out of games in the past, on both ends of the floor. Jump shot is on the streaky side. Defensive impact fluctuates.
- Better shooter off the dribble than off the catch at this stage of his career. Can improve his ability to add value off the ball. How does he fit alongside other ball-dominant shot creators?
- Shows glimpses as a facilitator but has more turnovers than assists during his career. Can he develop into more of a lead guard, or is he better off as a bucket-getter?

Projected role: Scoring guard

--Mike Schmitz

Post-Draft Analysis
The Hornets hit a home run last year in landing LaMelo Ball and will now look to surround him with the right type of players to maximize his brilliant passing and creativity. A lob-catching big man, and additional shooting on the wings and forward spots, will likely be a priority for Charlotte moving forward, both tonight and in free agency.

In James Bouknight, the Hornets acquired the type of instinctual, professional scoring option every team covets in the backcourt and hopes to mold into the next Devin Booker or Jamal Murray. He looks like a strong fit playing off Ball with his sweet-shooting stroke and terrific cutting ability. To reach his potential, Bouknight will need to show better ability as a passer, shooter and defender than he did in his up and down two seasons at UConn, where we may not have seen the full extent of his talent due to injury. At times he dropped flashes of offensive brilliance that carried over into a strong pre-draft process and helped him establish himself as a lottery pick. Teams seemed to be considering him as high as 6 or 7, but an elbow injury that was identified from high school (which required a screw be inserted), ultimately hurt his stock and dropped him a few spots from where he entered the night projected as. --Jonathan Givony

So. he's a shooter with a screw in his elbow. That's...not great.

[Braggins]

Spoiler:

Strengths
- Nice size and length for a scoring guard at 6-5. Good, open-court player. Plays above the rim with relative ease. Has the feet and length to be a plus defender in time, especially against point guards. Good positional rebounder. Shows you glimpses defensively.
- One of the best scorers in the country. Smooth with the ball in his hands. Changes speeds and directions impressively. Shotmaker who can get to his pull-up out of a variety of different moves. Elite hesitation move going left.
- Creative finisher. Uses deception really well in the paint. Can finish off of either foot with either hand and has a floater game.

Improvement areas
- Had a tendency to fade in and out of games in the past, on both ends of the floor. Jump shot is on the streaky side. Defensive impact fluctuates.
- Better shooter off the dribble than off the catch at this stage of his career. Can improve his ability to add value off the ball. How does he fit alongside other ball-dominant shot creators?
- Shows glimpses as a facilitator but has more turnovers than assists during his career. Can he develop into more of a lead guard, or is he better off as a bucket-getter?

Projected role: Scoring guard

--Mike Schmitz

Post-Draft Analysis
The Hornets hit a home run last year in landing LaMelo Ball and will now look to surround him with the right type of players to maximize his brilliant passing and creativity. A lob-catching big man, and additional shooting on the wings and forward spots, will likely be a priority for Charlotte moving forward, both tonight and in free agency.

In James Bouknight, the Hornets acquired the type of instinctual, professional scoring option every team covets in the backcourt and hopes to mold into the next Devin Booker or Jamal Murray. He looks like a strong fit playing off Ball with his sweet-shooting stroke and terrific cutting ability. To reach his potential, Bouknight will need to show better ability as a passer, shooter and defender than he did in his up and down two seasons at UConn, where we may not have seen the full extent of his talent due to injury. At times he dropped flashes of offensive brilliance that carried over into a strong pre-draft process and helped him establish himself as a lottery pick. Teams seemed to be considering him as high as 6 or 7, but an elbow injury that was identified from high school (which required a screw be inserted), ultimately hurt his stock and dropped him a few spots from where he entered the night projected as. --Jonathan Givony

So. he's a shooter with a screw in his elbow. That's...not great.

Also, being a weak spot up shooter whose more of a pull up guy seems like a red flag for his fit with LaMelo.

[JDR720]

This is either a draft in which Mitch will be hailed as a genius or get him fired.

[geraldwallace]

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?s=20

Bouknight has already earned his first "Oh my goodness"

[Bassman]

Here is a good article predraft on Jame Bouknight. This guy is dedicated to being special.

https://www.si.com/nba/2021/07/28/james-bouknight-2021-nba-draft-uconn

[SWedd523]

Here is a good article predraft on Jame Bouknight. This guy is dedicated to being special.

https://www.si.com/nba/2021/07/28/james-bouknight-2021-nba-draft-uconn

This is why I'm so high on Bouknight. He has that "dog" in him. The Alpha mentality. That's what separates him from a guy like Monk for me

[luciano-davidwesley]

Reading that article it seems he had tendinitis in his elbow while playing baseball which was his previous sport in high school. This sounds like the reason why he got the screw in his elbow possibly. Was he a pitcher? Red flag

[fatlever]

feels like monk 2.0 ... hornets love catching that falling knife. not in love with this. another 1-dimensional undersized guard, with 6th man upside.

[fatlever]

I'm fine with it. Let's see how he develops.

Only drawback is I feel like we've never had a great player from UConn here. Scott Burrell, Jeremy Lamb, Jeff Adrien, Roy Hibbert...then again, there was that one guy...

Emeka Okafor was very good prior to injuries.

ben "humble yourself" gordon ... obvi

[Braggins]

feels like monk 2.0 ... hornets love catching that falling knife. not in love with this. another 1-dimensional undersized guard, with 6th man upside.

I never believed the top 10 hype. I didn't even have him rated in the lottery until I started to see him getting mocked as high as 6. Seems like he maybe didn't really fall and probably still went higher than he should have to me, but he was perceived as the faller because he got overhyped right before the draft, which is kind of worse imo.

[GiggitySmalls]

Love it. He was my 2nd after jalen johnson.

[Jmonty580]

I'm bias as a UConn fan obviously but im excited for him and the hornets! He is explosive and I have 0 doubt that he will exceed everyone's expectations. He's not perfect by a long shot but offensively he will be elite imo. He was asked to do it all at UConn and that definitely impacted his 3 point percentage. Until he got injured everyone stood around watching him. When he came back they sort of reverted back to that too. In Charlotte he'll be able to play within the flow of the offense and lemelo will get him easy buckets, he didn't get many of those at UConn. In short here much better than what we saw in college.

He was visibly upset with sliding in the draft. He's a hard worker so that works in the hornets favor too, he's motivated. I'll definitely be watching my fair share of games.

[KingCat]

Love how some people are acting like every 2 guard in college that was a good scorer is gonna end up being the next Malik Monk. I still think if Cliff and JB didn't destroy his confidence in his first two years, Monk would have ended up being another really good player from the 2017 NBA draft. Still think Monk can be a good player, who know, maybe he has a MIP season in the near future. I just feel Malik will not find anymore success while in a Hornets jersey.

[Soca]

Moody would have been a better pick.

[Radu_Hornets]

I love how Michael Jordan’s height has become the new « undersized » guard.

[Hornet Mania]

I love how Michael Jordan’s height has become the new « undersized » guard.

He played in a watered-down league, haven't the kids told you yet?

[LofJ]

Moody would have been a better pick.

Maybe, Moody definitely has a higher floor, but the theme of this draft was to strike gold or go broke trying. I'm happy we went that route, we are in a position where we need to take risks. If just one of Bouknight or Kai reach their ceiling we will be a much more dangerous team.

[Snidely FC]

Not just height he is slight
MJ had 3” wingspan and 30lbs on Bouknight
Moody 4” wingspan and 25# advantage

and he lacks physicality and is a non-defender
Whatever we got him time to learn to like him

[UNCNYC]

Bouknight is a good pick here for the most part. I had him as 2nd best 2 guard so that's good imo. One thing about Bouknight is he is more guaranteed of not being a bust than being one. If anything he will be a POPULAR 6th man who can get his own shot at will.