Old North Banter
Fansided

Hornets Draft Look Back 2015: Reaching Dooms Hornets Draft Class

By Joseph Ochoa

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 25: Frank Kaminsky poses with Commissioner Adam Silver after being selected ninth overall by the Charlotte Hornets in the First Round of the 2015 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center on June 25, 2015 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 25: Frank Kaminsky poses with Commissioner Adam Silver after being selected ninth overall by the Charlotte Hornets in the First Round of the 2015 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center on June 25, 2015 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Recapping the Hornets 2015 Draft Class

In our next Charlotte Hornets draft lookback, we look back at the 2015 class the Hornets selected. The same break down will apply, we will look at their scouting reports going into the draft, how each player fared with the team, and how they progressed with the team and where they are now.

The Hornets selected Frank Kaminsky with their first pick of the draft and selected Juan Pablo Vaulet with the team’s second pick in the draft. Vaulet never played a game with the Hornets; he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets on draft night and never played an NBA game after getting drafted.

The Hornets vastly overachieved during the season. The team won 48 games that season and made it to the Playoffs for the first time since they returned to being the Hornets after being the Bobcats for nearly 10 years. The 48 wins were 14 more wins than the 34 wins that were projected for the team.

However the team was bounced by the Miami Heat in the first round of the 2016 Playoffs in seven games and the team hasn’t been back since, and some of that can be contributed to the inconsistency of the Hornets’ draft class

Kaminsky’s Tenue With the Hornets Was Sporadic at Best

Kaminsky was taken at the ninth pick overall in this draft. With players like Justise Winslow, Myles Turner and Devin Booker still on the board when the Hornets selected, very few people were excited about the prospect of missing out on these talents, especially Booker who has developed into an exciting scorer with the Hornets.

While he posted huge numbers with the Wisconsin Badgers, he looked sluggish at times and lacked the athleticism that you look for in the modern NBA big man.

Despite the issues, Kaminsky was serviceable for the Hornets between the 2016-2017 season and the 2017-2018 season, but his rookie season and this past season were very forgettable with the Hornets.

In addition to inconsistency, he was never solid enough to be a starter regularly for the team. Of his 282 games that he played, Kaminsky only started 23 games with the Hornets. Now some of that isn’t entirely on Kaminsky because the Hornets frontcourt was always loaded with players, but Kaminsky could never break through the crowd to be a consistent starter.

Kaminsky was not offered a contract with the Hornets this offseason and he left to sign with the Phoenix Suns.

Overall Hornets Draft Grade: C-

Unfortunately, the Hornets still don’t get a solid grade in our eyes. To be fair, I would’ve had a B- for the draft grade, but given the fact that Vaulet never played a single game in the NBA, I have to give the Hornets a poor grade.

Kaminsky’s inconsistency as a player also didn’t help things either. Had he been a player that started at least half of the games he played in instead of the 23 games, the grade would’ve been slightly better as well. Hopefully, the change of scenery from Charlotte to Phoenix will be the thing that gets Kaminsky’s consistency issues fixed.

That’s all for this one, come back next week when we look back at the 2016 Hornets draft class.

Home/Charlotte Hornets