Hornets add depth, have a…meh…draft

Hornets draft Washington in the first round, Martin and McDaniels taken in the second.

The NBA Draft took place Thursday and the Charlotte Hornets selected Kentucky power forward P.J. Washington with the first overall pick.

Later that night, the Hornets would select Nevada and former N.C. State small forward Cody Martin with the 36th pick and San Diego State power forward Jalen McDaniels with the 52nd pick.

With the draft officially in the books and some time to stew on this, its time to break down how the Hornets did in this draft and what will be the future of the three going forward.

Washington showed growth, will it be enough?

One thing that set Washington apart from most of the picks was the fact he came out after his sophomore year instead of his freshman year. In most cases, that would be a bad thing for most players, but Washington made the most of his extra year in college.

Washington increased his scoring from 10.9 points per game in his freshman year to 15.2 points per game in his sophomore year. Not only did he improve as a scorer, but he also improved his rebounding ability, including improving his defensive rebound by nearly two rebounds from his freshman year to his sophomore year.

That was probably the logic behind the Hornets selecting Washington as the 12th pick in the draft. Washington will have to break the curse of Hornets prospects who show a lot of promise in college and then fail to deliver on expectations in the pros.

Martin and McDaniels also added to the Hornets’ frontcourt

Martin transferred to Nevada after two years at N.C. State struggling to get significant playing time in Raleigh. as a role player coming off the bench.

Martin did improve his numbers with Nevada in his first playable season, averaging nearly 14 points per game in his first season with the Wolfpack. Despite a solid first season with Nevada, Martin’s numbers dropped during his final season in college, and at the age of 24, he is one of the oldest players in the draft this year, leaving his room for development and growth in doubt.

As for McDaniels, he was much more of an up-and-down prospect, after struggling to hit threes his first year at school, he improved his three-point shooting by nearly 10 percent his during his sophomore year.

The improved shooting from deep came at a cost though, as his mid-range and low-post shooting dropped by nearly 20 percent from the field. Despite the drop in easier shots, he did improve his win shares his final season to nearly 8 wins.

How the Hornets’ depth looks now.

The Hornets already had a loaded frontcourt with Nicolas Batum and Marvin Williams starting at the three and the four. That’s not even including Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Miles Bridges, both of whom so far have fallen into the underwhelming first-round picks of the Hornets this decade, are the backups and Frank Kaminsky is third on the depth chart.

Martin will more than likely be a bench player most of his career but could develop into a sixth man of the year candidate if he gets into the right situation and improves upon what he did with Nevada.

Washington and McDaniels will have the tougher road, as both are currently fourth and fifth on the depth chart respectively in the power forward slot.

Hornets’ final grade: C

Overall, While Charlotte did excellent with selecting Washington, I’m giving them a C because all they did was load bodies into the frontcourt instead of building depth in the backcourt.

The Hornets clearly are banking Kemba Walker taking less money, but after the Anthony Davis trade, the Los Angeles Lakers are slowly becoming a much more attractive free agent destination.

Furthermore, the Hornets could’ve traded some of there front court assets and their draft pick and traded up to where the Suns were picking instead of waiting until 12.

Carsen Edwards was available for the Hornets to take in the second round instead of Martin, who while lacks the size of your typical point guard, was capable of following an Isaiah Thomas skillset as a dynamic scorer and could develop into a fine player and would serve as a decent replacement if Kemba Walker leaves.

It was a very “meh” kind of draft for the Hornets, but should Washington break the Charlotte first-round curse and Martin and McDaniels develop into fine role players, it could help the Hornets to consistently reach the playoffs going forward.