Who is James Nnaji, and what can he become for the Charlotte Hornets?

The Charlotte Hornets acquired James Nnaji via a draft night trade with the Detroit Pistons. What can the young Nigerian big man add to the Hornets’ young core in the future?

James Nnaji is an impressive athlete with an equally impressive motor to boot. Earning minutes at Barcelona under totalitarian head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius is a testament to the instinct and IQ Nnaji possesses that pairs well with his physical upside.

He’s also still only 18 years old, and big 7-0 with shoes, a 7-7 wingspan, and a 9-4 standing reach.

His youth, tenacity, physical gifts, and his instincts are what had a number of NBA teams excited by the prospect of drafting him, but varied on where it would be good value.

He was ultimately drafted 31st overall by the Pistons and then traded to the Hornets.

What can Nnaji provide for the Hornets?

In the short term, Nnaji may not be able to provide much for Charlotte. Reports are that the Hornets will stash the youngster and he’ll likely spend at least one more season with Barcelona.

The Hornets will surely be keeping a close eye on his development to see if he continues to tap into his upside, particularly on the defensive end. Let’s evaluate that in the video below.

The first clip is Nnaji in a nutshell. He appears lost in transition and cannot find a man to guard to start the play, but instinctively sinks to protect the rim and is able to block the incoming drive attempt.

His decision to protect the rim while he senses his team scrambling defensively is impressive.

Nnaji is more than a rim protector though, he’s also strong and good in the low post which he showcases in the second clip.

In an El Clasico match against rivals Real Madrid, Nnaji was tasked with attempting to slow down All-Euroleague First Team center Edy Tavares. Nnaji did more than hold his own.

Nnaji is simply brilliant in this clip. He fronts Tavares in multiple spots, making the opposing star center work and tire out to get the ball.

Once Tavares catches, he exceeds in handling the Cape Verdean’s physicality and manages to push Tavares off his line as he goes across the lane for a hook shot. Nnaji closes the possession with a defensive rebound.

Nnaji looks like a seasoned veteran in that clip. He’s physical with Tavares the whole way, forcing him to catch the ball in a slightly less advantageous position, not giving him a straight line across the lane, and making himself a presence without fouling.

All those marginal moves force Tavares into a miss, and few 19 year olds can execute them all together like Nnaji did.

Of course, pick-and-roll defense has arguably become the most important in terms of impact for a player like Nnaji.

Fortunately, Nnaji is not just a good pick-and-roll defender but he also has range in this area. He is comfortable playing drop coverage, switching, and hedging and recovering.

In the third clip, Nnaji does a brilliant job defending the Sergio Llull and Tavares PnR here even though Real still scores. He drops and plays between Llull and Tavares, forces Llull to pass back out and gets back onto Tavares where he forces the league’s best center to take a tough shot without fouling.

In the fourth clip, Nnaji switches onto Sergio Rodriguez following a ball screen from Guerschon Yabusele. Rodriguez elects to move the ball elsewhere initially and then gets it back and Nnaji forces him to take an off-balance pull-up three.

In the final clip, Nnaji faces another Llull and Tavares PnR, Nnaji hedges out and meets Llull above the three-point line and then recovers to force a Tavares miss.

It’s easy to see Nnaji’s upside on the defensive end. Even if it isn’t quite ready to make an NBA impact this season, it’s hard to see a future where a player with Nnaji’s build, instincts, and IQ is not on an NBA roster.

On offense, Nnaji is, well, limited. His range is about 10 feet at best, he doesn’t dribble, and he clearly sees passing as a means for getting the ball out of his hands as quickly as possible and not really anything else.

Still, Nnaji has something to offer and is not a total dud on this side of the ball.

His two main offensive skills are using his athleticism and hands to be a solid lob catcher and generally an explosive above-the-rim finisher, and using his Energizer bunny levels of energy to relentlessly set screens for his teammates. We’ll see two examples of this in the video below.

The first clip is a prime example of how Nnaji can impact the game on offense. He sets 3 screens on this possession, and catches and finishes a lob around Tavares.

Nnaji catches another lob on the second clip and while it’s clear that this is what catches the eye of his optimists, it appears he did not know where to go in the play. Barcelona shooting guard Cory Higgins (weak side block) has to communicate instructions to him.

While these are highlight reel level plays, it’s the best Nnaji has flashed on offense at senior levels with Barcelona plus using his energy to create second-chance opportunities via offensive rebounds.

There have been plenty of other lowlights on the offensive end as well. That incident with Higgins was not an outlier, countless times throughout this season he was yelled at for being in the wrong spot or for not knowing a play.

Many teams switched smaller guards onto him without hesitation and dared Barcelona to throw the ball to him in the post. They usually didn’t, and when they did, it rarely ended well.

To close, Nnaji’s defensive potential is tantalizing. There are few NBA players who can protect the rim, defend in the post, defend on the perimeter, and can successfully execute multiple pick-and-roll coverages.

He displays very little instinct on the offensive side of the game. His energy and build give him a good launching point for setting screens and catching lobs, but when he catches the ball he seems to only understand immediately finishing at the rim or looking for a more skilled teammate to get the ball.

NBA players have proven successful with similar skill sets, but require catered roster construction to hide their inefficiencies: good pick-and-roll ball handlers, and quality floor spacing at all other positions.

The Hornets will have to carefully track his development over the next few seasons, and then ultimately decide if his defensive gifts are worthy of specific roster construction.