The Charlotte Hornets entered the NBA Draft Lottery with 12.5 percent odds of winning the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes. While they may have fallen short of that goal, losing out to the San Antonio Spurs, a team that will get yet another chance to draft a generational big man prospect, they still managed to nab the second-best thing, jumping up two spots in the lottery by winning the second overall selection.
As a result, the Hornets will now have the pick of the litter after the Spurs inevitably select Wembanyama. That is not a terrible consolation prize at all. After all, it's not like the Hornets squad is truly barebones, as some of the pieces of the team that challenged for a playoff spot in 2021 and 2022 are still in place.
It will certainly be interesting to see which direction the Hornets will take with the second overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft. Conventional draft thinking dictates that the Hornets must take the best player available regardless of position, and figure out the fit later. But will the Hornets shock the world by drafting for fit?
Nevertheless, here are the three best prospects the Hornets must target with the second overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft.
3. Jarace Walker
There's simply no way the Hornets reach on Jarace Walker with the second overall pick. That has to be said. When selecting a prospect second overall, one would hope that that prospect would have future star written all over him, and Walker, as talented a prospect as he is, doesn't exactly have the skillset to emerge as a featured option once he hits his peak.
But what Walker is is a winning player. Having versatile defenders with considerable perimeter mobility and rim protection upside who can move the basketball around is essential to putting together a winning outfit on the court, and Walker has those in spades.
With the Hornets, Jarace Walker won't have to mind creating his own shot too often, as the presence of LaMelo Ball would allow him to ease into a greater role the more he progresses.
Again, there is no chance the Hornets select Walker with this pick, but in terms of basketball fit, it's hard to envision a better one for the 19-year old forward than in Charlotte.
2. Brandon Miller
The Hornets, despite having some solid offensive options such as LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward, and Kelly Oubre Jr., posted the worst offensive rating in the NBA this past season. As controversial as Miles Bridges' off-court transgressions were, no one would deny that Bridges made the Hornets an exciting team to watch, and his emergence as a fringe All-Star talent in 2022 was key to the team's run to the play-in tournament.
It's not quite clear if the Hornets bring back Bridges given his checkered past. But knowing the Hornets' glaring need for wing scoring, they'd find looking for a more tantalizing wing prospect in this draft class than Brandon Miller, the 20-year old forward who impressed in his lone year at Alabama.
Miller, who stands at 6'9, looks the part of a future go-to scoring option on the wing. He can stroke the ball, and his athleticism makes him such a great bet to develop into one of the more impactful two-way wings in the NBA — which is essentially one of the most important player archetypes for any team looking to contend.
However, it's not always the best idea to draft for fit. The Golden State Warriors drafted for fit when they took James Wiseman second overall, and look where that got them.
Of course, the Warriors' situation is different in that they were trying to juggle two different timelines, which made developing Wiseman less of a priority than what was necessary for them to bring the best out of him. The Hornets will have no such issues. They can develop Brandon Miller carefully, and alongside LaMelo Ball, he won't have too much of a burden on his shoulders to create.
But knowing the other option on the board, it's evident what the Hornets must do with the second overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft.
1. Scoot Henderson
Scoot Henderson looks like a future star in every sense of the word. His reading of the game at such a young age bodes well for his development as a superstar floor general, and his athleticism allows him to put so much pressure on the rim, allowing him to blitz past defenders with ease which accentuates his ability to find the open man.
However, the Hornets already have LaMelo Ball to man the point, which would make some think twice about drafting Henderson. But it's not like the two can't click; Ball can space the floor well while Henderson, at this point, has a lot to improve with his outside shot. It's never a bad idea to pair two talented players together and see if they could work before making preconceived judgments before they even play a single minute together.
The Hornets must not overthink this. They must draft Scoot Henderson second overall and worry about the fit later.
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