Charlotte Hornets 2018 NBA Draft Grades

Charlotte Hornets 2018 NBA Draft Grades

The 2018 NBA Draft is over, and the Charlotte Hornets left with three players. How will Miles Bridges, Devonte' Graham, and Arnoldas Kulboka pan out in the NBA?

The 2018 NBA Draft is over, and the Charlotte Hornets left with three players. How will Miles Bridges, Devonte' Graham, and Arnoldas Kulboka pan out in the NBA?

Another NBA draft has come and gone, and for Charlotte, it was a largely uneventful one. While the Hornets did make a few trades, they were mostly minor moves. Despite that, there’s still plenty of controversy and debate surrounding the players that the team did end up with – and the ones they traded away.

Those debates won’t be settled fully for a few years, but they’re still worth thinking about. It’s impossible to predict the trajectory of these players’ careers. All we can do is make our best guesses based on what we already know and the information we can gather from the players, the team, and various talking heads and experts. It’s a fool’s errand, and any incorrect predictions made by analysts and teams alike will be laughed at and ridiculed for years to come.

That said, here are the definitive, 100% accurate grades for Charlotte’s pick in last night’s draft:

Pick 12: Miles Bridges, Michigan State SF/PF

Grade: B-

There’s a lot to unpack here. First, let’s break down the trade that landed Bridges in Buzz City: the Hornets sent the 11th pick (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) to the Los Angeles Clippers in return for the 12th overall pick and a pair of second-rounders. That’s a hell of a deal for Charlotte; Mitch Kupchak and company wanted Bridges the whole time, and managed to snag themselves two extra draft picks in addition to getting their man. While those second-round picks certainly aren’t sure-fire successes, they are assets. For a team that could very well be rebuilding soon, assets are vital, either as cheap, young players or part of a trade package.

The actual pick, however, is a bit less exciting than the trade. Bridges is an athletic talent, to be sure, but there are causes for concern. First and foremost, it’s worth wondering if the former Michigan State player was even the best available at his position – Michael Porter, Jr.’s back issues clearly scared a number of teams off, but Charlotte needs a star. MPJ was the best player in his class coming out of high school, and has star potential. Unless the Hornets are confident that his injury issues are going to affect the rest of his career, he’s absolutely worth the risk.

Still, Bridges makes sense for Charlotte, despite the fact that he didn’t work out with the team before the draft. He’s athletic and can shoot, two basic skills that make him a valuable player in the NBA. It’s unclear what his best position is at the next level, and how he fits in on a team crowded with young talent and underperforming veterans. But he represents both a relatively safe pick and a guy with a somewhat high upside.

If there’s one reason to be optimistic about this pick, it’s this: if nothing else, a Malik Monk-Miles Bridges pairing could be a whole lot of fun to watch.

Pick 34: Devonte’ Graham, Kansas PG

Grade: C+

After trading down a pick in the first round, Charlotte sent a pair of second-rounders to Atlanta to move up and snag Graham. The former Jayhawk is an archetypical second-round draft pick: a standout four-year player at a blue blood school that doesn’t have the athleticism or measurables to be a star, but his pedigree suggests he’ll at least contribute. You’ll hear a lot about his leadership, intangibles, IQ, and other buzzwords for players that don’t necessarily project as stars.

That’s not to say Graham is a bad player or the wrong pick here. All in all, he makes sense for the Hornets: the team desperately needs a backup for Kemba Walker and struggled to shoot the three last year. Graham averaged 7.2 assists per game his senior year and shot over 40 percent from behind the arc for his career. At 23 years old, he should hopefully be able to contribute immediately, and as a backup to an All-Star, he won’t be relied upon too heavily early on.

It’s not a perfect pick, though. The idea of trading up for a guy that doesn’t seem likely to move the needle isn’t thrilling, even if the cost was relatively low. It’s worth asking if there were higher-upside options here worth looking at, or if a comparable player would have been available at picks 45 (which was traded to Oklahoma City, to be fair) or 55. It’s easy to look at Graham’s college career and get excited about his NBA potential, but it’s important to remember there’s a reason he’s in the second round. 

Pick 55: Arnoldas Kulboka, Lithuanian SF

Grade: A+

I’ll be honest, I don’t really know anything about Kulboka. A 6-foot-11 small forward with a sweet shooting stroke, it seems unlikely that we’ll be seeing him in the NBA for at least another year. The draft-and-stash strategy has worked well for a number of teams in the past, and we’ll see if Kulboka can join the list of successes. At the end of the second round, there are worse things to do than take a flyer on a near-seven-footer that can shoot the lights out.

But there’s one real reason that the Kulboka pick earns an A+. It’s this picture of him at 10 years old wearing a Hornets jacket and the loosest jeans, looking straight out of the ‘90s despite it being 2008.

That's one of the best pictures I've ever seen, and even if Kulboka never plays a minute of NBA basketball, this pick has been well worth it.

Another NBA draft has come and gone, and for Charlotte, it was a largely uneventful one. While the Hornets did make a few trades, they were mostly minor moves. Despite that, there’s still plenty of controversy and debate surrounding the players that the team did end up with – and the ones they traded away.

Those debates won’t be settled fully for a few years, but they’re still worth thinking about. It’s impossible to predict the trajectory of these players’ careers. All we can do is make our best guesses based on what we already know and the information we can gather from the players, the team, and various talking heads and experts. It’s a fool’s errand, and any incorrect predictions made by analysts and teams alike will be laughed at and ridiculed for years to come.

That said, here are the definitive, 100% accurate grades for Charlotte’s pick in last night’s draft:

Pick 12: Miles Bridges, Michigan State SF/PF

Grade: B-

There’s a lot to unpack here. First, let’s break down the trade that landed Bridges in Buzz City: the Hornets sent the 11th pick (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) to the Los Angeles Clippers in return for the 12th overall pick and a pair of second-rounders. That’s a hell of a deal for Charlotte; Mitch Kupchak and company wanted Bridges the whole time, and managed to snag themselves two extra draft picks in addition to getting their man. While those second-round picks certainly aren’t sure-fire successes, they are assets. For a team that could very well be rebuilding soon, assets are vital, either as cheap, young players or part of a trade package.

The actual pick, however, is a bit less exciting than the trade. Bridges is an athletic talent, to be sure, but there are causes for concern. First and foremost, it’s worth wondering if the former Michigan State player was even the best available at his position – Michael Porter, Jr.’s back issues clearly scared a number of teams off, but Charlotte needs a star. MPJ was the best player in his class coming out of high school, and has star potential. Unless the Hornets are confident that his injury issues are going to affect the rest of his career, he’s absolutely worth the risk.

Still, Bridges makes sense for Charlotte, despite the fact that he didn’t work out with the team before the draft. He’s athletic and can shoot, two basic skills that make him a valuable player in the NBA. It’s unclear what his best position is at the next level, and how he fits in on a team crowded with young talent and underperforming veterans. But he represents both a relatively safe pick and a guy with a somewhat high upside.

If there’s one reason to be optimistic about this pick, it’s this: if nothing else, a Malik Monk-Miles Bridges pairing could be a whole lot of fun to watch.

Pick 34: Devonte’ Graham, Kansas PG

Grade: C+

After trading down a pick in the first round, Charlotte sent a pair of second-rounders to Atlanta to move up and snag Graham. The former Jayhawk is an archetypical second-round draft pick: a standout four-year player at a blue blood school that doesn’t have the athleticism or measurables to be a star, but his pedigree suggests he’ll at least contribute. You’ll hear a lot about his leadership, intangibles, IQ, and other buzzwords for players that don’t necessarily project as stars.

That’s not to say Graham is a bad player or the wrong pick here. All in all, he makes sense for the Hornets: the team desperately needs a backup for Kemba Walker and struggled to shoot the three last year. Graham averaged 7.2 assists per game his senior year and shot over 40 percent from behind the arc for his career. At 23 years old, he should hopefully be able to contribute immediately, and as a backup to an All-Star, he won’t be relied upon too heavily early on.

It’s not a perfect pick, though. The idea of trading up for a guy that doesn’t seem likely to move the needle isn’t thrilling, even if the cost was relatively low. It’s worth asking if there were higher-upside options here worth looking at, or if a comparable player would have been available at picks 45 (which was traded to Oklahoma City, to be fair) or 55. It’s easy to look at Graham’s college career and get excited about his NBA potential, but it’s important to remember there’s a reason he’s in the second round. 

Pick 55: Arnoldas Kulboka, Lithuanian SF

Grade: A+

I’ll be honest, I don’t really know anything about Kulboka. A 6-foot-11 small forward with a sweet shooting stroke, it seems unlikely that we’ll be seeing him in the NBA for at least another year. The draft-and-stash strategy has worked well for a number of teams in the past, and we’ll see if Kulboka can join the list of successes. At the end of the second round, there are worse things to do than take a flyer on a near-seven-footer that can shoot the lights out.

But there’s one real reason that the Kulboka pick earns an A+. It’s this picture of him at 10 years old wearing a Hornets jacket and the loosest jeans, looking straight out of the ‘90s despite it being 2008.

That's one of the best pictures I've ever seen, and even if Kulboka never plays a minute of NBA basketball, this pick has been well worth it.

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