2025 Draft Prospect Thread

[MPM]

For us long-timers, the whiffing on Shaq, Dwight, Wemby still stings. Nothing like coming down to the last two teams for a generational #1 and getting bridesmaided - thrice! If god doesn't grace us with Flagg, I'll be joining the Church of Satan.

[KembaWalker]

Can’t wait to see if wasting an entire season for 14% was worth it

[EmpireFalls]

The good news is this franchise really can’t let me down any further than they already have, so I’m fully expecting to see us draft Kon Knueppel at #6.

Will be pleasantly surprised if we draft top 4, shocked if we draft top 2, and will likely have an aneurysm if we somehow get #1.

[LofJ]

I saw on another Hornets board that the team has a lot of connections with Maine. Plotkin, Clifford, Longstaff, and a scout. We still aren't landing Flagg, but if we do maybe he wouldn't immediately hate it here.

[SWedd523]

Can’t wait to see if wasting an entire season for 14% was worth it

we already know that answer

[SWedd523]

I'm spending all day flying out to Montana so I'll miss it. My prediction is Charlotte picks 4th with Brooklyn jumping into the top 3

[JMAC3]

Based on our trade attempt for Dalton Knecht, Tre Johnson is probably a name that we should monitor for the team if we do fall outside the top 2-3 picks.

Not saying I value adding a 3rd shooter to Miller and Melo, but it seemed like this front office,coaching staff etc was a fan.

[Stun704]

For us long-timers, the whiffing on Shaq, Dwight, Wemby still stings. Nothing like coming down to the last two teams for a generational #1 and getting bridesmaided - thrice! If god doesn't grace us with Flagg, I'll be joining the Church of Satan.

Don’t forget about Anthony Davis.

That one stung the most because I think AD wanted to get drafted here with the MJ connection

[JMAC3]

Lowest we can pick is 7th, here is the 7 guys I think I would be open to considering taking.
Flagg, Harper, Ace, VJ, Fears, Tre and Queen.

Nobody outside that group really does much for me.

[GiggitySmalls]

I read that theres a commune outside of Charlotte with matching tracksuits and some pretty good kool aid. So good you only need one cup. There is an open invite to hornets fans especially if we fall out of the top 3. Im sure it legit.

Sent from my SM-S936U using RealGM mobile app

[Bassman]

Hornets Lucky Honey!

[fatlever]

for uncnyc... Your discussion about the best number one picks of all time. I took it back 41 years to the Patrick Ewing Draft Which is about the time I started paying attention to the nba as a kid. I had Google rank all the players based off of their career accomplishments which are listed next to each player. I dont 100% agree with all of the rankings but it's at least a good snapshot that shows which players drafted at number one in the past 40 years have accomplished the most. Obviously the current players will be moving up this list throughout their careers. But this gives you a good idea of what separates the best number one picks of all time versus the worst number one picks of all time. Point being, historically Dwight Howard Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin were good to excellent number one picks.

Code: Select all

Rank   Player   Draft Year   Notable Accomplishments
1   LeBron James   2003   4x Champ, 4x FMVP, 4x MVP, ROY, 20x ASG, 20x All-NBA (13x 1st), 6x All-Def (5x 1st), All-Time Leading Scorer
2   Tim Duncan   1997   5x Champ, 3x FMVP, 2x MVP, ROY, 15x ASG, 15x All-NBA (10x 1st), 15x All-Def (8x 1st)
3   Shaquille O'Neal   1992   4x Champ, 3x FMVP, 1x MVP, ROY, 15x ASG, 14x All-NBA (8x 1st), 3x All-Def (2nd)
4   Hakeem Olajuwon   1984   2x Champ, 2x FMVP, 1x MVP, 2x DPOY, ROY, 12x ASG, 12x All-NBA (6x 1st), 9x All-Def (5x 1st)
5   David Robinson   1987   2x Champ, 1x MVP, 1x DPOY, ROY, 10x ASG, 10x All-NBA (4x 1st), 8x All-Def (4x 1st)
6   Allen Iverson   1996   1x MVP, ROY, 11x ASG, 7x All-NBA (3x 1st), 4x Scoring Champ
7   Anthony Davis   2012   1x Champ, 9x ASG, 5x All-NBA (4x 1st), 4x All-Def (2x 1st), 3x Blocks Champ
8   Dwight Howard   2004   1x Champ, 3x DPOY, 8x ASG, 8x All-NBA (5x 1st), 5x All-Def (4x 1st), 5x Rebound Champ, 2x Blocks Champ
9   Kyrie Irving   2011   1x Champ, ROY, 8x ASG, 3x All-NBA (1x 2nd)
10   Patrick Ewing   1985   ROY, 11x ASG, 7x All-NBA (1x 1st), 3x All-Def (2nd), Hall of Fame
11   Derrick Rose   2008   1x MVP, ROY, 3x ASG, 1x All-NBA (1st)
12   Chris Webber   1993   ROY, 5x ASG, 5x All-NBA (1x 1st), Hall of Fame
13   Blake Griffin   2009   ROY, 6x ASG, 5x All-NBA (3x 2nd)
14   Yao Ming   2002   8x ASG (elected, played 5 full seasons), 5x All-NBA (2x 2nd), Hall of Fame
15   John Wall   2010   5x ASG, 1x All-NBA (3rd), 1x All-Def (2nd)
16   Karl-Anthony Towns   2015   ROY, 4x ASG, 2x All-NBA (3rd)
17   Anthony Edwards   2020   2x ASG, 1x All-NBA (2nd), All-Rookie 1st
18   Elton Brand   1999   Co-ROY, 2x ASG, 1x All-NBA (2nd)
19   Ben Simmons   2016   ROY, 3x ASG, 1x All-NBA (3rd), 2x All-Def (1x 1st), 1x Steals Champ
20   Brad Daugherty   1986   5x ASG, 1x All-NBA (3rd), All-Rookie 1st
21   Larry Johnson   1991   ROY, 2x ASG, 1x All-NBA (2nd)
22   Andrew Wiggins   2014   1x Champ, ROY, 1x ASG, All-Rookie 1st
23   Kenyon Martin   2000   1x ASG, All-Rookie 1st
24   Paolo Banchero   2022   ROY, 1x ASG, All-Rookie 1st
25   Victor Wembanyama   2023   ROY, 1x All-Def (1st), All-Rookie 1st, 1x Blocks Champ
26   Andrew Bogut   2005   1x Champ, 1x All-NBA (3rd), 1x All-Def (2nd), All-Rookie 1st, 1x Blocks Champ
27   Derrick Coleman   1990   ROY, 1x ASG, 2x All-NBA (3rd)
28   Zion Williamson   2019   2x ASG, All-Rookie 1st
29   Glenn Robinson   1994   1x Champ (role player end of career), 2x ASG, All-Rookie 1st
30   Cade Cunningham   2021   All-Rookie 1st
31   Danny Manning   1988   2x ASG, 1x Sixth Man of the Year
32   Deandre Ayton   2018   All-Rookie 1st, Key starter on Finals team (Suns)
33   Joe Smith   1995   All-Rookie 1st
34   Andrea Bargnani   2006   All-Rookie 1st
35   Pervis Ellison   1989   1x Most Improved Player
36   Greg Oden   2007   All-Rookie 1st (played in 2nd eligible season) - Career severely limited by injuries
37   Markelle Fultz   2017   Career significantly impacted by injury/shooting issues; has become a serviceable player
38   Michael Olowokandi   1998   No notable accomplishments
39   Kwame Brown   2001   No notable accomplishments
40   Anthony Bennett   2013   No notable accomplishments
41   Zaccharie Risacher   2024   Drafted June 2024 - 0 NBA Accomplishments

[Bassman]

For us long-timers, the whiffing on Shaq, Dwight, Wemby still stings. Nothing like coming down to the last two teams for a generational #1 and getting bridesmaided - thrice! If god doesn't grace us with Flagg, I'll be joining the Church of Satan.

Now now, don’t go the route of evil…not worth that. League just needs to stop tipping the lottery scale AFTER they tip this one to us !

[fatlever]

For us long-timers, the whiffing on Shaq, Dwight, Wemby still stings. Nothing like coming down to the last two teams for a generational #1 and getting bridesmaided - thrice! If god doesn't grace us with Flagg, I'll be joining the Church of Satan.

Don’t forget about Anthony Davis.

That one stung the most because I think AD wanted to get drafted here with the MJ connection

And to add... the Dwight Howard draft never really stung all that much to me. The bobcats were slated into the number four spot automatically due to the expansion rules. Traded from number 4 up to number 2 after draft order was already determined. We knew we were getting one of Howard or Okafor, whoever Orlando didn't take. Obviously Orlando made the right decision. At least this one wasn't related to bad lottery luck.

And just add to one, we lost that meaningless game at the end of the season which determined the ping-pong balls that had Chicago move ahead of us in the lottery combination number and then their combination got called to move up to get Derrick Rose.

[MPM]

For us long-timers, the whiffing on Shaq, Dwight, Wemby still stings. Nothing like coming down to the last two teams for a generational #1 and getting bridesmaided - thrice! If god doesn't grace us with Flagg, I'll be joining the Church of Satan.

Don’t forget about Anthony Davis.

That one stung the most because I think AD wanted to get drafted here with the MJ connection

And to add... the Dwight Howard draft never really stung all that much to me. The bobcats were slated into the number four spot automatically due to the expansion rules. Traded from number 4 up to number 2 after draft order was already determined. We knew we were getting one of Howard or Okafor, whoever Orlando didn't take. Obviously Orlando made the right decision. At least this one wasn't related to bad lottery luck.

And just add to one, we lost that meaningless game at the end of the season which determined the ping-pong balls that had Chicago move ahead of us in the lottery combination number and then their combination got called to move up to get Derrick Rose.

Think Wemby was the toughest for me, followed by Shaq as I had followed him all season at LSU - watching him dunk over triple teams is burned into my memory.

[KingCat]

A gloomy rainy day in the Carolinas. A sign of things to come?

[fatlever]

I really truly fear for everyone's sanity tonight. Just expect the Hornets to pick 6th.

[LofJ]

The most likely selection is 6, so yeah that should be the expectation. Now if they land at 7, feel free to rage against the NBA.

[fatlever]

I mean whatever happens tonight outside of the Hornets getting the first pick is going to make me furious. I can't remember a draft lottery where there were like 6 of the 14 teams that make me absolutely nauseous just thinking about them getting the number one pick.

Ranking of how furious I'll be if these teams get the number one pick - as of today
1. spurs
2. sixers
3. mavs
4. houston/suns - Not sure what the protections are but both would make me furious
5. pelicans
6. atlanta

less angry about the others

[KembaWalker]

if the Mavericks get the 1st overall pick I'll actually no joke stop watching NBA ball