Every year, the NBA’s draft lottery is a highly anticipated event. It’s an occasion when the worst teams from the regular season are given a glimmer of hope in the form of a chance to select a highly touted amateur player. However, this year’s lottery was given a special level of attention due to the looming presence of a generational talent, Victor Wembanyama.
Although the San Antonio Spurs won the highly coveted pick and have not been shy about acknowledging the fact that they will select Wembanyama first overall, there remains a plethora of gifted basketball players for the rest of the lottery teams to choose from. The Charlotte Hornets are the team that will select directly after San Antonio. The team has been dismal in recent years, having missed the playoffs for seven consecutive seasons. However, with a few key moves they could contend for a spot in the play-in tournament sooner rather than later.
The Charlotte Hornets are a franchise in need of a turnaround. Pairing Scoot Henderson with LaMelo Ball is the right move for the team’s future.
When a player is selected with the second overall pick, organizations are usually hopeful that he will turn into a franchise player. He is expected to become a building block of the future and almost singlehandedly be capable of turning the fortunes of the team around. The Hornets are in a unique position; unlike most lottery teams they already have the face of the franchise in place, LaMelo Ball. However, one exceptional talent is not enough to win in the NBA. If Charlotte is to become a winning team they must find Ball a co-star.
Hailing from the G-League ignite is a 6’3″ guard who has shown flashes of brilliance over the last two seasons along with the maturity of a much older player. His name is Scoot Henderson, and if it weren’t for the phenom from France, he may have very well been the first pick in this year’s draft. Nevertheless, he is an exceptional talent with a bright NBA future. If Charlotte wants to put together a winning formula, pairing Henderson with Ball is the right way to go. Let’s take a closer look at the reasons why The Charlotte Hornets should select Scoot Henderson with the second pick in this year’s NBA draft.
He is a movie star
I know what you’re thinking: “What does acting have to do with playing in the NBA?” The answer to that question is that Scoot Henderson’s acting debut wasn’t just as a product endorser on a nationally televised commercial like most athletes. Instead, Henderson accepted the challenge of starring in a made-for-TV movie about the formative years in the life of LeBron James. Having the courage to take on a new challenge in the midst of preparing for the upcoming NBA draft takes guts and a ton of confidence. Henderson has both.
While Henderson’s role in Shooting Stars isn’t going to win him any awards, his willingness to take risks is reflective of his understanding of the moment. This is the same player who reclassified to the class of 2021 in high school just so he could graduate a year early. He then had the presence of mind to join the G-League Ignite and sign a two-year deal reportedly worth $1 million dollars. When he suited up for the team in the fall of 2021, he was just 17 years old, making him the youngest player to ever appear in a G-League game.
Next season, as a rookie in the NBA, Henderson will be faced with a new experience virtually every day. As a 6’3″ combo guard he may have to guard Steph Curry on one night and then be faced with the task of guarding Dame Lillard a few nights later. There certainly won’t be any nights off and any sign of weakness or hesitation will be exploited by veteran players eager to show the 19-year-old kid that the league still belongs to them.
Henderson’s willingness to accept challenges and take on risks, demonstrated by his reclassification in high school and his acting debut, is just one of the reasons the Hornets should take him with the second overall pick in this year’s draft.
Scoot will excite the team’s fanbase
For three years in the early ’90s, the Charlotte Hornets were one of the most popular teams in the NBA. Utilizing a duo of talented frontcourt mates, Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning, the team qualified for the playoffs in 1993 and again in 1995. While the future looked bright for the young Hornets, contract disputes and ego battles led management to dismantle the team.
Since that brief moment in time, the NBA’s franchise in Charlotte has seen intermittent success but never achieved anything sustainable over a long period of time. Unlike the Boston Celtics or the Los Angeles Lakers, the Hornets do not have decades of championship glory to rely on in order to secure the loyalty of their fans. If they are going to be a successful organization they must find a way to win and present a product the city can rally behind.
To say that Scoot Henderson plays an exciting brand of basketball would be an understatement. Although he did not participate in scrimmages at the NBA draft combine, his athleticism and strength have been raved about by everyone who has seen him play. LaMelo Ball has shown the fans in Charlotte that he has exceptional court vision along with the ability to make impressive passes to cutting players. Henderson’s presence will mean another set of young legs that can catch the ball above the rim and finish with an emphatic dunk from one of LaMelo’s dimes.
While winning is certainly the name of the game in the NBA, keeping the fans engaged during downtimes is almost equally as important. Before the Sacramento Kings were able to end their playoff drought, they maintained a raucous home crowd during their losing seasons. If the arena had been quiet and the stands had been empty, perhaps players like De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis would have forced their way out of town instead of sticking around and figuring it out. Henderson and Ball are two players who could eventually have the same impact in Charlotte if given the opportunity to do so.
He doesn’t have to start right away
No matter how talented a player is, no team wants to overwhelm a rookie who is getting acclimated to the NBA with too much responsibility too soon. In the case of the Charlotte Hornets, drafting Scoot Henderson would mean having a player who is capable of playing big minutes but doesn’t have to bear the burden of being the primary ballhandler right away.
In addition to LaMelo Ball, the team’s roster also features 29-year-old veteran point guard Terry Rozier. Last season, while appearing in 63 games, Rozier put up very respectable averages of 21.1 points and 5.1 assists per game. With a battle-tested guard like Rozier as a stabilizing force, the Hornets will not be forced to throw Henderson into the fire right away. Instead, they can bring him off the bench and give him time to develop.
This is similar to the strategy that the Orlando Magic used in developing Penny Hardaway during his rookie season. Although Hardaway was rightfully viewed as the league’s next star point guard, the Magic’s coaching staff thought it was wiser to continue playing veteran Scott Skiles at the point guard to start the season. It wasn’t until Hardaway’s second year in the league that the reigns were turned over to him and he became the team’s full-time floor general.
In addition to the fact that playing with the second unit may be beneficial for a 19-year-old rookie, Henderson’s coming off the bench could help the team overall. Every good team has a sparkplug off the bench, someone the team can go to for buckets when the primary scorers are catching a breather. If Head Coach Steve Clifford finds the right mix of players, Henderson could become the team’s sixth man and the leader of the all-important “bench mob” that often determines the outcome of the game.
He is reminiscent of stars of the past
Inevitably, when young players are evaluated for their NBA potential, they are compared to players who came before them. In the case of Scoot Henderson, his physique and athleticism lends itself to comparisons to two explosive point guards who made a major impact on recent league history: Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook.
While it may seem like high praise to compare a player who has not bounced the ball for one NBA dribble to two players who each won the league MVP award, the similarities between Henderson and the aforementioned legends are inescapable. Like Rose and Westbrook, Henderson is around 6’3″ tall. Like both players, he also weighs around 195 lbs. He is also sculpted like Michelangelo’s David with the muscularity and strength of a man ten years his senior.
Rose and Westbrook were both known for playing above the rim and having the ability to finish through contact. During his two years as a member of the G-League Ignite, Henderson showed the uncanny ability to play through contact while also showing that physical defense by his opponents would not deter him from attacking the paint and finishing around the rim.
There are some members of the media who are suggesting that Charlotte should take advantage of their fortunate draft position and make a play for Zion Williamson while his name is coming up in trade rumors. While Zion has proven to be a unique talent when healthy, the questions surrounding whether or not he is permanent4 Reasons Scoot Henderson is the no-brainer choice for Charlotte at 2 injury prone are too serious to ignore. The Hornets should select Scoot Henderson and give him time to develop.
He has proven that he is not afraid of the challenge, he will not shy away from the spotlight, and he bares striking similarities to recent stars. Scoot Henderson will be a star in the NBA someday. If the Hornets are a wise franchise, he will do so while wearing the purple and teal.