2026 NBA Draft Needs: Charlotte Hornets

The Charlotte Hornets are one of the most promising teams in the NBA. This past year showed that several of their key players are one step away from evolving into top-level stars. Whether they take that step is another issue entirely. The Hornets need reliability to pull together their mishmash of different skillsets. This year’s draft has several steadying presences who can smooth out the chaos and help direct it.

State of the Team

Competing: One more piece

Positional Strengths and Weaknesses

Guards

The Hornets’ guard corps is LaMelo Ball, Tre Mann, and hopefully Coby White.

LaMelo Ball has been a highlight machine since being drafted third overall in 2020. However, Ball isn’t the ball hog that a descriptor like highlight machine normally implies. In actuality, Ball is the connective floor general who bonds the team’s scorers together. Ball’s concern is his health. He has only played over 65 games twice in his six seasons in the league, appearing in just 303 of a potential 492 games. If he can repeat this past year and play 72 games, then the Hornets are a legitimate playoff team.

Tre Mann and Coby White are the two backup guards in Charlotte. Mann significantly regressed this past year. He was coming off a back injury, and it clearly hampered him. He’s only 24, so the hope is he returns to the scoring combo guard he was prior. Coby White was a deadline upgrade from Collin Sexton. White was a starter on the Bulls and is a premium ballhandler and scoring guard. His role on a competing team is running the second unit or stepping up in case of injury.

Wings/Forwards

The Hornets’ wing and forward corps is Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Miles Bridges, Tidjane Salaün, Liam McNeeley, Josh Green, Sion James, and Grant Williams.

The Hornets have so many scoring wings that they could easily look to make a move for an upgraded big man. Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel are elite scorers: Miller with his three-level scoring, and Knueppel broke the rookie record for three-pointers made in a season. Miles Bridges is a veteran forward who lives off post scoring and a league-average threeball. He’s reliable. Tidjane Salaün struggled his rookie year and saw his minutes dip this past year, his second season. He had a shortened season due to injury, but made a massive jump in efficiency on lower volume and could continue improving.

Rookie Liam McNeeley split time between the G League affiliate and NBA team this past season. He needs more time to develop and become the sharpshooter he was projected to be before playing major minutes. Josh Green is a polished threeball specialist off the bench. Sion James is a hyper-athletic sharpshooter. He transitioned to wing from guard, but could play one through three if his defense continues to improve. Finally, Grant Williams has been plagued by injuries since joining the Hornets from the Celtics, but if he’s healthy, he can be a backup stretch four.

Bigs

The Hornets’ big corps is Moussa Diabaté and Ryan Kalkbrenner.

Moussa Diabaté had the third-most offensive rebounds this past season and is a putback king. His defense is still improving, but he can be a serviceable big man entering his fifth season. Rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner is similarly a good offensive rebounder, finishing 22nd for the season. He blocks more shots than Diabaté, but has a lower ceiling. Both are 24 and shared starting duties for the Hornets. Either one could make an offseason leap and take the starting role.

Draft Needs:

The Hornets lack elite frontcourt players. They have plenty of shooters, plenty of scorers, plenty of wings, but they need another connective piece. Outside of LaMelo, they don’t have any passing playmakers. They have the talent to be potential contenders, but only if their chemistry and mix of offense and defense come together. Out of this year’s draft, the Hornets need more playmaking and defense so their scorers can spend more energy on offense.

Prospects Who Fit

Joshua Jefferson (PF/Forward, Iowa State)

Joshua Jefferson is the glue guy the Hornets need on their roster. At 6-foot-8, 246 pounds, with a 6-foot-11 wingspan, Jefferson won’t be a starter for the Hornets, but he will provide the impact of one off the bench. At 23 years old, Jefferson is an older prospect with a short runway to develop further, but he’s already a crafty point forward with a high IQ. His feel for passing windows and manipulating the shape of a defense is a tier above even in the NBA. His baseline as a rebounding connective four who averaged 7.4 rebounds per game in back-to-back seasons screams reliability.

Jefferson doesn’t have world-class athleticism. He has good size and strength, but lacks that special mobility to evolve into a scoring powerhouse or high-level switchable defender. He does have the instincts to be a productive help defender and “connective tissue” between the scorers on the Hornets. On defense, he averaged 1.6 steals and 0.8 blocks per game, largely on his well-developed hand usage, clogging passing lanes and poking the ball from behind. On offense, his deft touch resulted in an impressive 1.92 assist-to-turnover ratio, with 4.8 assists to 2.5 turnovers per game.

Jefferson lives with his back to the basket. With time and space, he can create separation with his size, counters, and a handful of power dribbles. Combined with his preternatural touch passes to the open man once defenders go to double him, he will be an asset to any offense with elite perimeter shooters. For instance, the Hornets. He also has improved as a three-point shooter every year, culminating in shooting 34.5% on 3.1 attempts per game. If his shot has more room to improve, he could go from a talented role player who would calm and elevate the Hornets to a bona fide starter who co-orchestrates one of the scariest three-point shooting offenses since the peak Warriors.

Morez Johnson (PF/Forward, Michigan)

Morez Johnson is the exact kind of defender the Hornets need. At 6-foot-9, 250 pounds, with a 7-foot-4 wingspan, many project Johnson to convert to a center, but keeping him as a power forward would be a better fit for the Hornets. Johnson is a defensive monster who can switch onto the two through five when needed. Alongside the primary rim protector, Aday Mara, Johnson was part of a Michigan team that dominated with size and won the national championship. Keeping his role from Michigan at power forward will let him showcase his switching and perimeter defense.

Johnson’s path to the NBA is clear. Looking at his stat line gives a preview of what to expect. He averaged 13.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.7 steals, and 1.1 blocks, scoring on 62.3% of his shot attempts. Together with his 78.2% free throw percentage, he had an insanely efficient 67.7% true shooting percentage. He’s a contact-embracing rim-runner who lives for putbacks and lobs. He has a gifted touch around the rim, and while he doesn’t have the leaping ability to dunk consistently, a layup and a dunk are both two points regardless of how flashy one is over the other.

The Hornets already have two non-shooting big men, and adding another non-shooting frontcourt player is concerning. But two points outweigh that concern. First, Johnson’s defense is truly special. He has the mobility to stay with shiftier wings and the brick-wall size to hold up against big men. He can be thrown at the best player on the opposing team and simplify defense for the rest of the roster. Second, Johnson never attempted a three-pointer his freshman year and only took 35 this past year. But he hit on 34.3% of those attempts. There may be an untapped shooting ability, especially with his strong free throw percentage. Even if he doesn’t develop a threeball, Johnson’s defensive impact will fill the gaps in the Hornets and bring their unit together.