The Charlotte Hornets surprised many when they made the decision to select Alabama's Brandon Miller with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. While Scoot Henderson was the consensus second best prospect behind Victor Wembanyama, the Hornets brass all along had Miller as their top option. They now get to see a potential explosive pairing with Miller running alongside LaMelo Ball. The Hornets had two other picks in the NBA Draft though and while Brandon Miller certainly has star potential, they may have gotten one of the steals of the draft in UCLA's Amari Bailey.

This past season was a down year for the Hornets as they dealt with the fallout from the Miles Bridges incident and their franchise player in LaMelo Ball battled injury issues. As a result, their record was bad enough to be in contention for one of the top picks in the NBA Draft. Regardless of how the fanbase feels about the Brandon Miller pick, he is going to be a good player. Labeling Miller as the Hornets best move of the draft is a no-brainer which is why that title should belong to Amari Bailey.

In recent years due to salary cap issues and whatnot, second round picks have become a lot more valuable than they have been in the past. This past trade deadline, the Milwaukee Bucks sent five second round picks to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Jae Crowder. A second round pick is an opportunity to grab a contributing player on a relatively cheap contract. Bailey is a player that can eventually become one of the better players from this draft class.

Although he only played one season of college basketball at UCLA, Bailey declared for the draft with every intention of keeping his name in it and not returning to school. He had a strong showing at the combine and on some mock drafts he was projected to be a late first round pick. He slipped though and the Hornets were able to nab him. Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak revealed that the team had him much higher on their draft board than No. 41.

At 6 feet 5 inches, and about 185 points, Amari Bailey is a bit of a combo guard. He played a lot of point guard in high school at Sierra Canyon. At UCLA he was used primarily as a shooting guard. As a freshman he was able to contribute right away. He ultimately became the starting two guard alongside Tyger Campbell. In his lone season of NCAA basketball, Bailey averaged 11.2 points per game, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists with splits of 49.5 percent shooting from the field, 38.9 percent shooting from the three-point line and 69.8 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

Bailey is likely going to see a lot of time in the G League with the Greensboro Swarm. He is probably going to start the season as third on the depth chart at both shooting guard and point guard. The Hornets are likely going to use summer league to continue to evaluate James Bouknight and how he potentially fits in the rotation at shooting guard.

But things could get a little interesting for Bailey if the team elects not to re-sign Dennis Smith Jr. If Smith returns, he will hold the backup point guard spot. If he does not return, Bailey could find himself vying for minutes alongside fellow rookie Nick Smith Jr. Bailey gives the Hornets an additional ball-handler and playmaker on offense and he has the tools to be a good defensive player as well. As mentioned before, he could end up being one of the better players of this draft class.