We Need to Draft Upside

[AppHeel]

I'm beginning to lean towards the thinking that Charlotte needs to draft a guy with higher upside potential even if the risk of being a bust is also high. That would mean taking guys like Zach Collins or Frank Ntilikina.

Collins will have a lot of detractors because he's another 7 foot white guy, but his production speaks for itself and from an advanced statistical standpoint Collins is off the charts. He projects really really high. His PER production compares similarly to what Anthony Davis, KAT, Embid, etc put up in college. You can debate the whole Collins played at Gonzaga so his stats are skewed thing, but production is production.

French Frank is 18 and plays internationally in France so there is a lot of unknown about him, but the measurables (6-5 with a 7-1 wingspan) are there and having that in a PG is pretty rare. Frank already projects as a good to great NBA defender and his play in the PnR is solid. He gets knocked as a shooter, but the guy has good form. It's not like we'd have to overhaul everything like we are doing with MKG. He also fills a position of need and may be considered an upgrade already to what we can afford in free agency. Even if he plays a lot in Greensboro early and defers backup minutes to someone like Briante Webber, Frank has a high ceiling and should be able to play alongside Kemba as he develops. His size helps with that.

The problem is, Cho has one season to save his job, so he very well may draft someone safe ala Frank Kaminsky that can crack minutes in Cliff's rotation right away. See Justin Jackson, Donovan Mitchell, Luke Kennard, etc. All 3 guys have positives and at various times I have been all for drafting 1 or 2 of these guys, but the Hornets need to take a risk to get out of the middle. They need upside. 

Give me Collins or French Frank.

[ECUPantherFan]

I hate UNC but I like Justin Jackson...

[nctarheel0619]

If you want upside, Harry Giles is where it's at.  If he could live up to his billing like he did last year, it could be a steal.  

[AppHeel]

1 hour ago, nctarheel0619 said:

If you want upside, Harry Giles is where it's at.  If he could live up to his billing like he did last year, it could be a steal.  

Definitely can get behind the logic. For me personally, I just can't get past the multiple ACL tears. That's not to say though, that if this was the guy the FO decided to go with that I wouldn't eventually warm up to it.

If drafting Collins or Ntilikina is like trying to hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth down a run, then drafting Giles would be like trying to hit a grand slam, down 3 in the bottom of the ninth with an 0-2 count and 2 outs. 

Giles is definitely the biggest upside in the draft when it comes to players outside the top 8 or 9, but he's also the biggest risk. Would be a ballsy move.

[AppHeel]

25 minutes ago, #PanthersKing said:

French Frank won't be there at #11 anymore. 

I do like Collins and Markannen. I prefer these two white men over Zeller

If French Frank goes before 11, then perhaps another PG like Dennis Smith will fall. That's when it gets interesting

[nctarheel0619]

1 hour ago, AppHeel said:

Definitely can get behind the logic. For me personally, I just can't get past the multiple ACL tears. That's not to say though, that if this was the guy the FO decided to go with that I wouldn't eventually warm up to it.

If drafting Collins or Ntilikina is like trying to hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth down a run, then drafting Giles would be like trying to hit a grand slam, down 3 in the bottom of the ninth with an 0-2 count and 2 outs. 

Giles is definitely the biggest upside in the draft when it comes to players outside the top 8 or 9, but he's also the biggest risk. Would be a ballsy move.

It would be the one time in our history we Drafted for upside, instead of instant impact.  Ballsy for sure.  

[nctarheel0619]

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2017/

[AppHeel]

23 minutes ago, #PanthersKing said:

Have you pay any attention to mock drafts? 

Yes and outside of Fultz, Ball, Jackson, Tatum, Fox and Monk it's up in there air. Someone will fall. Not inconceivable that if 4 point guards go in top 7 or 8, then the 5th (being Smith or Ntilikina) will drop to 11.

Draft Express has us taking Ntilikina.

[Davidson Deac II]

I saw at least one mock draft that had the Hornets taking Collins.  John Collins that is.  John made a tremendous leap last year.   Only real weakness is the lack of a consistent shot from more than 10 feet away from the basket.  But if he can improve in that area, could be the steal of the draft.

[rico6]

1 hour ago, Davidson Deac II said:

I saw at least one mock draft that had the Hornets taking Collins.  John Collins that is.  John made a tremendous leap last year.   Only real weakness is the lack of a consistent shot from more than 10 feet away from the basket.  But if he can improve in that area, could be the steal of the draft.

John would be a top 5 pick in 2005, in today's NBA he lacks length and offensive versatility that almost every 4/5 in the NBA offers today.

Definitely a case study for what the NBA is NOT more so than what it currently is.

[Porn Shop Clerk]

Isn't that what we did with Vonleh and Biyambo, and then cut bait on them too soon?

[SuperBowlBound]

Rich Cho isn't interested in players with superstar potential. He would rather have a team full of role players. Role player Rich is a below average GM. He's been here for six years now. The only thing the Hornets have to show for it is two first round playoff exits and no superstar.

In my eyes, Collins is the pick. As noted earlier in this thread, people will hate it because of the 7-foot white guy redundancy. He can play immediately and has the chance to be an excellent player.

However, I have zero confidence in Cho's ability to the right thing in the draft. I still do not understand why his option was picked up.

[SOJA]

Harry Giles could end up being the steal of the draft if he gets cleared medically. The guy was the projected number one pick like 1.5 years ago. 

[yasuhara2241]

Any chance we trade up and grab someone like Monk? Unfortunately we don't have a ton of assets just maybe future firsts but I would like to have someone with scoring ability like Monk. If we stay put I'm leaving towards one of the tall white guys......... Life as a Hornets fan is so hard

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