Why It Makes Sense For The Charlotte Hornets To Use Both Of Their First Round Picks

While there's a lot of talk over the Hornets potentially trading either (or both) of their 2026 first-round picks, there's a case to be made that they should stick and pick at both selections.

The Charlotte Hornets have young talent on their roster. A LOT of young talent. Last offseason, they added four rookie players, all of whom were signed to standard four-year contracts.

The year before that, they used a top-10 pick on Tidjane Salaun, and in 2027’s draft, the Hornets are likely to have another 2-3 first-round draft picks (their own, the Mavericks top-2 protected first-rounder, and Miami’s top-14 protected first-round pick.

So why on earth does it make sense for Charlotte to draft use two top-20 picks this offseason with amount of young talent the Hornets already have (and will be adding just a year from now)? At some point, there’s got to be a roster crunch, right?