Charlotte Hornets: Top Ten Draftees in Team History

Oct 29, 2014; Charlotte, NC, USA; The basketball court for the Charlotte Hornets sports the new logo before the opening home game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Time Warner Cable Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports

Number 8: Rex Chapman

Drafted: 1988
Pick: 1st Round, 8th Pick

Chapman was a shooter from Kentucky who was brought in to be the Hornets’ first ever draftee. It was a thankless task given how bad the early Hornets teams were in those years. It also did not help that Chapman had a bunch of hype that he never quite reached, though he was a good player.

Chapman played four years for the Hornets. During that time he was mostly used as a shooting guard but did spend some time at the point as well. Even though the basketball was not great, Chapman did get to play in front of the sold-out Charlotte Colosseum fans when they were just hungry for any kind of basketball.

Chapman averaged about 16 points a game over the course of his tenure with the Hornets. He was traded midway through the 1992 season for young forward Tom Hammonds. At that point the Hornets had drafted Kendall Gill and Chapman’s role had diminished. He still holds his spot at number nine as an important Hornets draftee.

Side Note: I think this finishes the Kentucky portion of this list.

Spoilers: I did not take Tony Delk on this list.

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