The Charlotte Hornets entered the 2022 NBA Draft with a pair of picks in the first round at No. 13 and No. 15 overall. The Hornets traded away the 13th pick, Jalen Duren, in a three-way deal with the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks. Duren was the consensus top-ranked center in the draft, but the Hornets did manage to snag Mark Williams from Duke at 15th overall and Bryce McGowens from Nebraska with the 40th pick. Williams will be a work in progress, but should be huge moving forward, while McGowens might be a little bit of a mystery to many. With all that in mind, here are our Charlotte Hornets 2022 NBA Draft grades.

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Charlotte Hornets 2022 NBA Draft Grades

Mark Williams — B+

The Hornets have had a hole at the center position for the past three to four years. Williams may have a chance to start out the gate and will be viewed as the center of the future for the Hornets. The 7'2 big man will be able to make an impact on defense right away. Williams is a solid rim protector, having averaged just under three blocks per game while at Duke. The only reason this grade isn't an A is that he doesn't look like the strongest rebounder and his offense is likely to be a work in progress. Still, he will be a good lob threat around the rim, especially with LaMelo Ball being his point guard. Williams is a solid pick for a young team still putting their core together.

Bryce McGowens — C+

Second round picks are always hard to gauge. Some end up being solid contributors, others end up outplaying their draft stocks, while the rest fade to black in the G-League or overseas. Bryce McGowens seems like he could be a solid role player for the Hornets some day. He led his Nebraska squad in scoring as a freshman with 16.8 points per game. He is a solid shot creator as well at his size and has the strength to finish through contact at 6'7. He likely be a project that the Hornets can watch grow in the G-League with the Greensboro Swarm, but maybe he can get put on a two-way contract to split time with the Hornets.

The Hornets have made good use of their G-League affiliate in the past and their young guys seem to have benefited from it. Jalen McDaniels is perfect example. He played huge minutes down the stretch of the season for the Hornets. James Bouknight and Kai Jones have also put up solid numbers while splitting time as well. McGowens should be a fun project to follow.

The Jalen Duren trade is questionable — B-

Jalen Duren was the number one ranked center in the draft and he fell to the 13th pick. The Hornets selected him only to flip him for more draft capital in the future.

This is a massive haul of picks for one player, but only one of them is a first-round pick out of the five. The Denver Nuggets will likely be a playoff team and could go pretty deep with Jamal Murray returning to the lineup, so how high of a draft pick will it actually be? The rest are a holster of second round picks. Obviously, getting Mark Williams was always the plan apparently and Hornets' general manager Mitch Kupchak said that Williams “fits better with the team,” than Duren does.

At least they landed one of the two top centers in the draft, so the deal was solid, right? Hopefully everything pans out for the better.

Overall, it was a solid draft for the Hornets. They did fill a hole at the center position with a guy that is projected to be a solid starter in the future and added a project in McGowens. There was a lot of buzz that the Hornets were going to move Gordon Hayward and Kelly Oubre during the draft in order to free up some cap space. That would've paved the way for Miles Bridges to get a hefty contract to stay in Charlotte. To add insult to injury, they still don't have a head coach to lead this group.

So, there is still a lot of work to do. Hopefully, they have an even better plan for free agency moving forward.