Ti’s Four-Point Play: The NBA Rookies You Don’t Hear About

Frank Kaminsky

Frank Kaminsky’s NBA career started in tough fashion. Kaminsky was drafted ninth overall by the Charlotte Hornets. That alone is nothing horribly insurmountable.

The story goes deeper than Kaminsky getting drafted, though. The Boston Celtics really wanted to move up to that ninth spot and draft Justise Winslow, and they allegedly offered Charlotte a whole heap of draft picks in exchange for the ninth overall pick.

The Hornets said no and took Kaminsky. He was immediately labeled as a mistake pick and a bust, thanks to the offer on the table for that draft pick.

Despite that negativity, Kaminsky started his NBA career in strong fashion. He has yet to win a starting job with the Hornets, but he’s having an efficient season as a bench player in Charlotte.

Kaminsky is averaging 7.5 points per game on 40 percent field goal shooting, 33 percent three-point shooting, and 74 percent free throw shooting. None of those numbers are earth-shattering, but they are all solid starts.

Kaminsky has all the tools to end up as a very solid stretch 5 in a few seasons, and he’s already proving his doubters wrong. Both defensive win shares and defensive box plus/minus have Frank the Tank as a plus defender, which will be huge to his NBA potential.

With his quality perimeter shooting and good defense, Kaminsky is impressing those paying attention. There may not be many eyes on him at the moment, but that should change as his role on the Hornets increases.

Next: Stanley Johnson