The Charlotte Hornets’ recent first-round track record has run the full spectrum, from picks that never stuck to others who already look like pillars of the franchise.
This year’s first-rounders, Hannes Steinbach and Christian Anderson, are still unknowns. Their rookie seasons haven’t been written yet. But the Hornets’ last five years offer a clear snapshot of how unpredictable that opening-round swing can be in Buzz City.
James Bouknight arrived in Charlotte with plenty of buzz after a strong two-year run at UConn, but the production never came close to matching the promise. He averaged just 4.6 points per game as a rookie, and his second season began with an arrest for impaired driving.
A year and a half later, Charlotte let him go. Bouknight is now with the Mexico City Capitanes of the G-League, where he won the league’s three-point shooting contest this past season.
Mark Williams’ path with the Hornets turned into one long detour. The former Duke star dealt with injuries as a rookie, but his talent still suggested a future in Charlotte.
Instead, his sophomore year went sideways because of more injury trouble, with Williams appearing in only 19 games due to a back injury. The next season brought another round of health issues, and Charlotte even tried to trade him before the Lakers backed out, saying Williams had failed a physical.
Months later, the Hornets moved him to Phoenix, where he remains.
Brandon Miller entered the league under some noise, and not all of it was welcoming. When Charlotte selected him, fans at the Spectrum Center booed loudly because they had wanted Scoot Henderson, especially after the team missed out on the first pick, which became Victor Wembanyama.
That reaction didn’t last long. Miller delivered a strong rookie season at 17.3 points per game, then followed it with an even bigger third year, averaging 20.2 points per game to lead the team.
With LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges now traded, Miller is positioned to become the face of the Hornets.
Nick Smith Jr. spent two seasons in Charlotte after going 27th overall, mostly in a reserve role. He did get 27 starts when LaMelo Ball was sidelined during the 2024-2025 season.
After that year, the Hornets waived him, and Smith landed with the Lakers on a two-way deal. His play last season earned him a full-time roster spot.
Tidjane Salaün has been the biggest project of the group. Charlotte believed enough in his upside to take the risk two years ago, and the team was clear from the start that he would need time.
He has been exactly that kind of player so far, averaging 5.9 points and 4 rebounds per game over two seasons. His scoring ticked up a bit in year two, but not enough to suggest a major leap.
If he’s going to carve out a future with the Hornets, or in the NBA at all, the clock is ticking.
Then there’s Kon Knueppel, the latest example of a pick that can change the mood around an entire draft night. Some viewed his selection as Charlotte’s answer to taking Salaün the year before, which made Knueppel seem like the safer play.
One scout even joked to the reporter that his game was as good as Knueppel’s, only to later admit he was wrong during Knueppel’s rookie season. Knueppel finished second in Rookie of the Year voting in 2026, averaged 18.5 points per game, and made 273 three-pointers, the most in the NBA and a franchise record.
He looks like one of the Hornets’ franchise faces for years to come.
In Other News...
Hornets Get A Painful Christmas Reminder About Their NBA Standing
Christmas Day has long been the NBAs showcase stage, the sort of calendar slot where contenders, stars and rivalry games get the spotlight. The Hornets have never been part of it, and this years schedule only sharpened that reminder as the league lined up high-profile teams while one of Charlottes most recognizable former faces, LaMelo Ball, was set to be featured elsewhere.
For a franchise still searching for the kind of national pull that earns those holiday invitations, the omission says plenty about where it sits in the league pecking order. Even with a player as marketable as Ball having once been the centerpiece in Charlotte, the Hornets remain outside the group the NBA trusts to carry one of its biggest regular-season days, and that gap is hard to miss when the Christmas slate drops. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Enter 2026 With One Defining Question About Their Core
As Charlotte heads toward the 2026-27 season, the conversation around the roster is already centered on the same thing: which pieces can truly anchor the next version of this team. The Hornets have a core that includes rookies and younger holdovers, and the early evaluations are being shaped by Summer League flashes, past-season production and the natural hope that a few promising stretches can grow into something sturdier.
Still, the biggest challenge is separating what looked good in a small sample from what can actually carry over once the games matter. Summer League can point to strengths and reveal growth areas, but it can also mislead if it gets treated like a final verdict, which is why the Hornets next step is less about celebrating individual moments than figuring out which players belong in the long-term answer. [Read more 🡒]
Brandon Miller Just Took On A Bigger Hornets Reality
Brandon Miller has already become the centerpiece of the Hornets next chapter, and the latest sign of that is as plain as a video game rating. In NBA 2K27, Miller comes in at 85 overall and stands as Charlottes highest-rated player, a neat snapshot of how quickly the teams hierarchy has shifted after moving on from LaMelo Ball. After a season in which Miller played 65 games and put up 20.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per night, the Hornets are now looking at him less like a promising piece and more like the player around whom the roster has to make sense.
That reality brings real contract stakes with it this summer. Charlotte may look to work out a rookie-scale extension with Miller, but if that does not happen, he would be headed toward restricted free agency next summer. For a franchise trying to reset its identity, the timing matters, especially with Miller and Kon Knueppel now viewed as the faces of the team. The Hornets have already accepted that their future looks different than it did a year ago, and Millers next move will say plenty about how quickly that future can take shape. [Read more 🡒]