Charlotte Hornet GM Jeff Peterson was hired in March, 2024 as the executive vice president of basketball operations, he was just 35. Just under eight months later, it looks like a brilliant hire.
Charlotte
is currently just 2-4, but what’s intriguing is how well Charlotte’s rookies are doing.
The Hornets picked up Duke’s Kon Knueppel with the #4 pick, UConn’s Liam McKneeley with the #29 pick and then Knueppel’s Duke teammate Sion James with the #33 pick and Creighton big man Ryan Kalkbrenner with #34.
Knueppel is starting and getting 29 minutes a game while Kalkbrenner has also been starting and drawing 27.4 minutes a night. McNeeley, a beautiful shooter who was Cooper Flagg’s teammate at Montverde, is getting 10.7 a night. He’s still a teenager and he has talent, so don’t write him off.
The biggest surprise though?
James.
The former Duke guard has averaged 21.4 minutes in five games and he started against Orlando. He’s also averaging 8.2 points, 2.6 boards and 1.4 assists. Even more impressively, he’s hitting 66.7 percent of his shots. That’s crazy for a big guy but unbelievable for a guard. Granted, he’s certainly not a volume shooter, but it’s still wildly impressive, even if it’s all layups. The athleticism in the NBA is insane. It’s not like he’s just getting uncontested shots, and he’s hitting two thirds of them.
James’s greatest value though is in his rugged defense, and while analytics will reveal a lot, you can’t really measure his defense statistically. He’s powerfully built and he defends with passion.
The Hornets are currently 2-4, but they’re 2-4 with three rookies playing key roles. Peterson gets a lot of credit for drafting those guys and for talking some heat in particular for the Knueppel pick.
Well, three of the four picks have already emerged as key players and as they adjust to the NBA, the Hornets are only going to get better.
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