Should Charlotte Hornets take Scoot Henderson or Brandon Miller in the 2023 NBA Draft?

The case for Scoot Henderson

Scoot Henderson is the most explosive player in this entire draft, and he’s drawing comparisons to Ja Morant and Russell Westbrook who are both two of the most explosive players in NBA history.  Scoot is a 6-foot-2 guard who played for 2 years with the G League Ignite program. Many scouts have gone as far as to say that in any other draft, (apart from this one) Scoot would be the 1st overall pick.

Although Scoot is a super athletic player, there’s even more to his game. Scoot has a silky smooth midrange pull-up and has shown incredible passing vision when playmaking out of the pick and roll. Despite his smooth jump shot in the midrange, he hasn’t been able to consistently stretch the floor from 3. And although he’s got a football running back frame, he’s been underwhelming defensively.

How would Scoot fit with the Charlotte Hornets?

In almost everyone’s mind, Scoot is the 2nd best player in this draft. But since the Hornets already have LaMelo Ball at point guard, there are some concerns about how the two will fit together. Ball is someone who has operated with the ball in his hands a lot in his NBA career, but he’s shown the ability to hit catch and shoot jump shots which could help him play off-ball.

Scoot on the other hand hasn’t shown much at this point that would indicate he can play without the ball in his hands. And I have a hard time believing LaMelo would allow a rookie guard to handle the ball more than him.

Defensively is where the real issues start to pile up for this duo. LaMelo is an extremely subpar on-ball defender at this level in his career, and he’s shown no signs he will improve. And while Scoot looks like he will develop defensively, he’s not at that point currently.

The Hornets are already a horrible defensive team to begin with and they haven’t improved here in years. If the Hornets draft Henderson, I see major problems on this end of the floor.