Fansided

2014 NBA Draft: Grading each team’s draft

By Brad Rowland

Jun 26, 2014; Brooklyn, NY, USA; A general view as basketball fans walk past a sculpture before the 2014 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 26, 2014; Brooklyn, NY, USA; A general view as basketball fans walk past a sculpture before the 2014 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jun 26, 2014; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Noah Vonleh (Indiana) shakes hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number nine overall pick to the Charlotte Hornets in the 2014 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 26, 2014; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Noah Vonleh (Indiana) shakes hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number nine overall pick to the Charlotte Hornets in the 2014 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

Charlotte Hornets

The Charlotte Hornets likely did not believe that Indiana forward Noah Vonleh would be available when they picked ninth overall, but that circumstance emerged and they took full advantage. Vonleh is a somewhat divisive player in that his collegiate production doesn’t match his NBA upside, but Charlotte can afford to swing for the fences, and Vonleh could also be effective in helping to protect the rim alongside scoring center Al Jefferson.

Later, Charlotte kept things close to home by selecting former North Carolina shooting guard P.J. Hairston, and that was a move I loved. The Hornets are in desperate need of a shooter on the wing in the wake of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist‘s complete inability to stretch the floor, and if there is one thing that Hairston does effectively, it is bomb from the outside. Charlotte added a second rounder (Xavier’s Semaj Christon) for the price of moving back two spots, and they likely got “their guy” in Hairston.

Grade: A

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