NBA Draft Reactions – Pick No. 33, The Charlotte Hornets Select Sion James!

NBA Draft Reactions – Pick No. 33, The Charlotte Hornets Select Sion James!

the third pick of the second round the Charlotte Hornets select Seion James out of Duke to me this signals the Hornets really trying to rebuild their culture or I don’t even know if you can call it a rebuild like can can you rebuild what you never had they’re trying to institute something with guys who are a little bit safer less swings for the fences and good locker room guys who they can surround both LaMelo and and Brandon Miller with i think that’s one of the big the best traits about Cion and I don’t even mean that negatively like the offc court the intangibles everything you hear about this kid from coaches teammates players it’s it’s all raving about what a good teammate he is and then on court as well he can fill a variety of roles to me I still feel like this is a little bit too high for him but Dion uh I know you loved this Duke team this past year why don’t you share what the Hornets can expect out of James and how you think he fits in Charlotte uh I think he he um very similarly to Khan Canipple signals a bit of a seriousness that’s kind of like how I framed Mhm the con pick we’re done taking guys that like might work might not work we’re going to take you based upon what you did in college and if you can just replicate that in the NBA like we’re good with it if that makes sense and I think that’s a good turn for uh for the Hornets because I I I think the Hornets have have long taken like I don’t know how to say his name tiwan Saloon yeah tan Salon was that yeah and it’s like that’s not it it just No one actually believes that’s going to work right but they’re swinging for the fences and I think Zion James is a guy that like you you’re not getting a home run with but like if he can hit a single or a double that’s a really productive NBA player 41% from three last year never really makes a mistake mhm you’re never like “Oh he didn’t swing it.” You know like if Tyrese Proctor’s open he would rather Proctor takes the shot i think that’s a very important aspect of playing NBA basketball obviously that’s not going to be the case in the NBA but if LaMelo or Brandon Miller are open Son’s going to pass it to them or Seion excuse me he’s going to pass it to them and that’s very important because you want your best players taking the shots when they’re open not your not like your role players so I think he kind of understands what it means to play a role and he’s a he’s a hustler and he plays great defense and I I think when you factor all those things in you typically have a longer NBA career than the role players who are a little bit about themselves yeah I I think that’s really well said and even more so from an a fit perspective this Hornets perimeter unit is pretty desolate like after you get past Brandon Miller LaMelo I know Trey Mann had some nice flashes all three of those guys finished the year injured uh I mean I I think he should be in theory not even in theory he might immediately be an upgrade over Josh Green i think the Hornets fans I know are right now happy they don’t have to watch Josh Green playing big minutes anymore and you really Yeah that’s like I I was a little surprised by that cuz I mean I’m not going to act like I watch a ton of Hornets this past year but I I’ve I’ve always liked Josh Green as a player since his days at Arizona but I know he’s been pretty up and down and a lot more down than up since being in the NBA but regardless with Cion what he can bring on the court what you mentioned in terms of the 41% from three is huge like anecdotally speaking it seemed like he never missed a catch-and shoot jumper anytime there was a kick out to him he knocked it down and I believe he shot 38% last year at T Lane 36% the year before so he’s proven in that it wasn’t a one-off here uh beyond that he was in the 90th percentile of field goal attempts at the rim this year for his position he’s at the 82nd percentile in defensive rebounding rate for his position there is a lot to love just about what he can do in terms of of being a glue guy and filling a variety of roles now my my one critique push back whatever you want to call it for taking him at 33 I do have some hesitencies that some of th those rebounding the athleticism traits or what he can do around the basket they might not translate as well when he doesn’t have the size advantage over every guard he’s playing against cuz I I watched it night in night out no ACC teams had a guard that could match up with him from a physicality and strength perspective they just didn’t he was an outlier in that sense in the college game the NBA there’s going to be a lot more length and athleticism thrown at you and I I guess he’s I know he ran point at Spurs for Duke so I I don’t you know I think he’s going to give you good positional size regardless but at the same time like I I just don’t know if the if the strength and athleticism is a super smooth transition where it’s like oh he’s he’s great at that right away yeah i don’t think uh that’s going to be his role in the league anyway like I I really don’t think he’s gonna be like I I don’t think I see Scion ever playing over 10 minutes a game on a team like I I think a large portion of his role is going to be like very sporadic minutes high energy guy like I don’t know that this is necessarily going to happen on the Hornets but let’s say the Hornets are like contenders one day uh that feel that doesn’t feel realistic but like maybe he feels like the guy like in the playoffs you go down 12 at the crib and you’re like “Yo let’s bring Scion in he hits a massive three the crowd gets into it lamelo gets going you you immediately yank Scion and you’re like “Yo that was fun really glad you were out there for a little bit but it’s it’s time to like get the dogs back in the game.” He feels like one of those players um there’s nothing wrong with that by the way those guys have very long NBA careers i mean across the back of the road Theo Pinson played for a few years doing something similar so I mean I think it’s it’s one of those situations where I think he has the ability to play for a long time i don’t think it’s going to be in a role where like you know as as a Duke fan like our baby Blue Devils are getting picked at a high rate i don’t think Scion’s going to be one that we’re like following for a long time like he’ll be in the league but we’re not checking in on his stats there is not the Sean Muse actually there probably will be i feel like there’s a weird contingent of online Hornets fans that will create that account for the Seon Muse yeah I think that’s a really good point and I on one end I’m going to say this knowing it’s sort of it’s ridiculous to compare the Hornets to the Thunder they’re just eons and eons away from from OKC as a franchise but what you’re getting at with that type of player who is a 10-minute per game guy but but is ready for the moment when his number is called it’s like what Aaron Wiggins did in the playoffs this year what he did in the finals you know he can have those scoring outputs granted will that happen on Charlotte TBD you know that you got to get to the playoffs first before you get uh before you have a playoff moment and to get to the playoffs first you got to win more than Did they win what like 17 games this past year i feel like it was really low maybe they got to 21 maybe they got 20 um yeah you there there needs to be some strides made on that end but at least the pick is there in theory so good pick Hornets not is just a really tough guy to critique

The Sleepers react to the Charlotte Hornets selecting Sion James at number 33!

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