2. Charlotte Hornets
Scoot Henderson | 6-2 guard | 19 years old | G League Ignite
The Scout: Henderson is an explosive playmaker who has been seen as the likely No. 2 overall pick behind Wembanyama all season. In many other drafts, Henderson would be the No. 1 pick. He’s going to be a difficult problem for defenses to solve from the first day he hits the
NBA because of how well-rounded he is in ball-screen actions. He can pull up and hit floaters, he can get to the rim and finish with authority or touch, he can play slow or fast, and he can make high-level passing reads. On top of that, he’s going to force the action in transition and drive easy points that way, as well as be the guy from day one who sets the tone for your organization as the top dog on the team because of his competitiveness and drive.
The Fit: As I wrote in last week’s mock draft, the presentation of the very specific lean toward Miller throughout this process has been a bit strange to me. General manager Mitch Kupchak is known to heavily value the individual workout part of the pre-draft process, and the Hornets’ front office is known to be deliberate in their decision-making process league-wide. Additionally, Kupchak said yesterday at his pre-draft press conference that “probably until tomorrow, there won’t be a decision.” Genuinely, I think this is a toss up.
On top of that, they are in the
middle of an ownership transition. Decisions this vital have many stakeholders from the top of the organization on down. We haven’t heard much about incoming owners Gabe Plotkin and Rich Schnall throughout this process, but it’s been hard for me to believe they wouldn’t be involved in a substantial capacity. Indeed, Kupchak acknowledged yesterday in his press conference after publication of this mock initially that “
the new owners will be in the room,” before going on to say that he’ll make the pick. And that makes sense. They should be in the room and have a voice. They’re the ones who will have to live with this decision long term — even more so than Kupchak himself, given that ownership transitions can often come with eventual front-office changeovers (especially when the incumbent lead front-office executive is nearing 70 years old). This isn’t to say Kupchak is on his way out immediately or anything, and Jordan is maintaining a minority stake in the franchise. But all of the public posturing seems to be surrounding Jordan and Kupchak.
Why would Plotkin and Schnall not be the primary stakeholders here? Undeniably, they’ll listen to the basketball lifers in the front office purely from an expertise perspective. Jordan’s opinion will hold weight, as it always does. But even if they aren’t the people making the decision, logically, their voices seem very important here too, and that seems to be the X-factor few people have accounted for. A number of factors make me believe the early Miller favoritism post-lottery was likely a bit overstated publicly. All of the intel I’ve gotten says the Hornets simply undertook a real process to come to a decision, and no choice has been made between Henderson and Miller until this week.
The team had both Miller and Henderson in for workouts, then had them return this week. My impression is that the uncertainty regarding their potential decision at No. 2 was legitimate, and they didn’t make Henderson fly back to Charlotte just to send out a smoke screen to the rest of the league. Kupchak also noted in his news conference Wednesday that he did not gain a significant amount from having Miller and Henderson in for a second round of visits, but that ownership got a chance to get a better feel for both players. I’m still not totally sold that this pick is absolutely Miller, despite the intel throughout the process seemingly leading to one direction. In Wednesday’s news conference, Kupchak answered a question fit versus talent.
“Several years ago, (fit) wasn’t a factor at all,”
Kupchak said Wednesday. “You were always going to take the best player. I would say that is the case today, although we are closer to a point in time where we would consider fit. But we’re not that team that has been in the playoffs for three or four years and you’re looking to keep a roster and look for fit when we’re not at that place right now. So our decision is going to remain to mean that we’re going to look for the player who is going to have the best overall career.”
He also said, “We’re trying to get the player that we feel that, once you put the ball in their hand, that you’re going to get the best player.”
Everyone around the league acknowledges the Miller intel exists, and there does seem to be a feeling that Miller is favored to be picked. The oddsmakers have Miller as the favorite too. I get that. But based on everything in that news conference and how the tenor of the conversation from Kupchak seems to have changed from post-lottery to now, I’m riding with Henderson to start draft day. I might be wrong. I wouldn’t bet on this market either direction right now. But no one seems to be able to truly figure out where the Miller leaks are coming from, as the Hornets’ front office is believed to largely keep things in-house.
I do believe that, if there is a trade to be made regarding the No. 2 or No. 3 picks, the most likely player teams would be moving up to get would be Henderson. A number of teams have called about this selection, including
New Orleans, as
The Athletic’s
Shams Charania and Will Guillory reported. At the very least, my impression is that Charlotte hasn’t completely shut down interest, but Kupchak acknowledged that it would require an enormous offer to pry the pick away.
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