Like most teams that find themselves in the draft lottery, the Charlotte Hornets are a side lacking in talent and in the middle of a rebuild. After losing Kemba Walker last season to free agency, the Hornets shifted focus into acquiring and developing young talent.
A breakout season from Devonte Graham moved the process along last season but the team still finds itself with the third pick in the draft after some lottery luck. In a three-player draft, that should typically be considered a positive but two of those three players are guards in LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards.
The Hornets have holes on their team but guard is not one of them with Graham and Terry Rozier anchoring the backcourt. Still, the team has enough of a talent deficiency that general manager Mitch Kupchak doesn’t see the team drafting for need over fit this draft.
Via Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer:
“I don’t feel we have the luxury of being able to, at this point, pick-and-choose the position.”
Interestingly, when it comes to Ball, Kupchak was one of a select few number of people that scouted Ball in-person in the NBL during his 12-game run. To what degree that will factor into their decision on whether to draft Ball or not remains to be seen.
Ball wouldn’t be a particularly great fit for the backcourt alongside Rozier and Graham, but as Kupchak noted, when a team is in the lottery and as high as the No. 3 pick, generally speaking, they can’t afford to draft on fit over talent.
The decision, though, will likely be taken out of their hands as, barring a dramatic rise from another prospect or fall from one of Edwards, Ball or James Wiseman in the pre-draft, Charlotte will simply take whichever of the three is left.
[lawrence-related id=25598,25592,25587]Draft order, the Charloote Hornets can ill afford to take fit over talent.