NBA Draft Combine Winners and Losers: Charlotte Hornets Edition
The NBA Draft combine has concluded, and the Hornets are in an advantageous spot after the week of measurements, testing, and scrimmages.
The NBA Draft combine is the single-greatest event for prospects looking to solidify their draft stock prior to June’s draft. Some players use it to best evaluate their options, get feedback from teams, and determine whether they want to return to college.
For others, it’s one of the final opportunities to show why they’re deserving of being drafted. Every prospect is affected, though, and this year’s combine was no different.
For the Hornets specifically, there’s a lot of takeaways about the prospects projected to be selected in the mid-first round.
Winner: Cam Carr, Wing, Baylor
Arguably the biggest winner of the entire combine was Cam Carr. Going into the event, Carr was viewed as a late-teens draft pick, one who could probably step into the NBA and contribute as a 3-and-D wing.
Carr averaged 19/6/3 at Baylor this past season on 49/37/80 shooting splits. Having been in the college game for two years prior to Baylor, the biggest question Carr had to answer is whether his “late breakout” was fluky. Teams will sometimes avoid players who didn’t show much early in their college careers - and Carr appeared in only 18 games for Tennessee in his two seasons prior to transferring to Baylor.
His biggest answer to that question came in the form of Wednesday’s 5-on-5 scrimmages.
Carr was easily the most “different” player on the floor through any of the scrimmage games. He put up 30 points on 18 shots, hitting six 3-point attempts. His shot looked clean and Carr’s athleticism popped. It was akin to watching a player that you know is too good for Summer League.
But that performance only came after Carr measured in, earlier in the week:
6-6 in shoes with a nearly 7-1 wingspan is no joke for a wing. That’s a lot of positional size and length (combined with really high-end athleticism).
There aren’t many true 2/3 wings in this draft class (in fact, I’d make the case that after Dybantsa, there weren’t any that were lottery projected). That left a void to be filled, and Carr looks like the next wing off the board after Dybantsa.
I think he will be in consideration for teams in the lottery, including the Charlotte Hornets at 14.
Going into the combine, Carr’s name is one I was monitoring for the Hornets with their later pick. After the combine, he might not even make it past the 11-13 range.
Loser: Koa Peat, Forward, Arizona
Koa Peat is one of the most interesting players in this entire draft class. He’s got a great frame for a forward, is physical down low, and plays with a lot of effort when he’s on the floor. Peat also works really well as a roll-man in pick-and-roll scenarios, and his short-roll passing is among the best in the class.
At the combine, though, he didn’t accomplish his goal - which was to give any NBA team a reason to believe in his shot.
Peat was just 7-20 on 3-pointers at Arizona this past season. He was just 62% from the free throw line, as well. Even going back to his high school tape, you don’t ever really see any positive shooting indicators. That’s just a skill that’s a necessity for forwards in the current NBA.
The combine was a chance for Peat to at least prove he had some shooting in him, but the shooting drills only worsened his case.
Peat shot 6-25 on spot-up threes (last), 7-25 in the 3-point star drill (3rd-worst), and 10-25 on mid-range jumpers.
I still think Koa Peat would go in the first round if he stays in the draft. But he almost certainly wouldn’t be picked in Charlotte’s draft range.
Winner: Morez Johnson, Forward/Big, Michigan
Morez Johnson was the biggest combine winner throughout measurements and athletic testing, to me.
Going into the combine, Johnson’s measurements were standout among a crowd of players that all measured fairly well.
Johnson measured in at true center height, though: 6-9 without shoes, a solid 250 pounds, and a plus-six wingspan.
It didn’t stop there, as Johnson had a 39-inch max vertical, the 5th-best lane agility time, and shot 17-25 in the 3-point star drill.
Johnson already had top-20 buzz, and similar to Cam Carr, drove his stock up enough to where he might not even be available for the Hornets to take in this draft. There’s a shot he’s taken prior to the 14th pick.
Winner: Hannes Steinbach, Forward/Big, Washington
Steinbach’s measurements were among my most anticipated. After the lottery, my internal alarm bells were ringing as one of the folks over at No Ceilings raised a concern, anticipating Hannes Steinbach’s weight after seeing him at the lottery (I can’t find the exact clip but the podcast is here).
Steinbach, like Morez Johnson, also measured in with true center size. 6-10 with a 7-2 wingspan (and a 248 pound frame) is more than big enough.
Steinbach’s skill set is unique in that he’s not really a shooter, but also doesn’t play stout interior defense, making his position a little bit more murky.
But the functional athleticism, size, and rebounding make it to where I’m fairly confident in projecting him as an NBA center moving forward, which wasn’t the case a few days ago.
Winner: The Charlotte Hornets
I think the Hornets are a massive winner from this week’s combine. As more measurements and testing kept coming in, it became clear that there weren’t many players whose stock would drop considerably.
But the confidence level in getting a highly-coveted piece with the 14th (and 18th) pick rose significantly after seeing players like Carr, Steinbach, and Johnson perform so well throughout the week.
This shortlist also doesn’t include guys like Chris Cenac, Karim Lopez, Tounde Yessoufou, and Jayden Quaintance (all of whom measured very well).
You probably won’t see players such as Aday Mara or Yaxel Lendeborg make it to Charlotte at 14 because of their combine performances, but the likelihood those guys made it to that pick were already slim to begin with.
Even if the change in how much players in the top-20 climbed is marginal, the value on having two picks in that range increased in value, in my opinion.