2025 NBA Draft preview: What direction will the Hornets go?

CHARLOTTE (CAROLINA SPORTS LIVE) — The second NBA Draft of the Charles Lee in teal and purple era is right around the corner.

Duke star freshman Cooper Flagg is as close to a lock as you can get to go No. 1 to the Dallas Mavericks, and all signs are pointing to Rutgers guard Dylan Harper going after him to the San Antonio Spurs.

After that, no one really knows who could land where. Although the Hornets aren’t a top-two pick this year, planning for who could be available at No. 4 shouldn’t be too hard.

The Hornets should target a shooter with the fourth-overall pick in Wednesday night’s draft. Charlotte finished the season with the league’s worst shooting percentage (43%) and third-worst three-point percentage (33.9%)

F Ace Bailey

The teammate of likely second-overall pick Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey is an intriguing young prospect. At 6-feet-8-inches, Bailey is an elite shooter with good size and has the potential to be a great wing defender. Early in the offseason, it was thought that Bailey would be a lock for a top-three pick, but that has slowly changed and has been recently mocked to fall as far as pick nine. Regardless, he’d be a great fit to boost Charlotte’s shooting deficiencies.

G VJ Edgecombe

VJ Edgecombe out of Baylor is certainly one of the most athletic players in the 2025 draft class. The 6-foot-4 guard plays with a high motor and can be a difference-maker in transition defense (the Hornets allowed 19.5 ppg off turnovers- fourth-most in the NBA). He set a Baylor freshman record with 68 steals (tied for fourth-most in the conference) and led all Big-12 freshmen in scoring (15 ppg). However, according to CSL’s Mike Lacett, the Hornets’ front office doesn’t believe he’ll fall to the fourth pick.

G/F Kon Knueppel

Duke’s sharpshooting guard would fit perfectly in Charlotte. The 6-foot-7 shooting guard from Wisconsin shot better than 40% from three-point range and led the ACC with a 91.4% free-throw percentage. Knueppel is a high-IQ player with good defensive instincts. He’d be a great fit with Charlotte’s young core of LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, and former Blue Devil Mark Williams.

G Tre Johnson

Johnson is an elite three-level scorer who will be an instant impact on whichever team drafts him. He averaged 19.9 points per game, which led the SEC and earned him SEC Freshman of the Year honors. His best game in his only season as a Texas Longhorn was against Arkansas, where he scored 39 points on 50% shooting (7-11 from three) and passed Kevin Durant for most points in a game by a Texas freshman.

Queen City News talked to several Hornets fans who would entertain the idea of the team drafting South Carolina forward Collin Murray-Boyles. He’s a great rebounder who brings energy on both sides of the ball. His lack of high-level perimeter shooting (only 26.5% from three last season) drops his draft stock to picks 10-15. Those Hornets fans, who also graduated from the University of South Carolina, are optimistic about what Murray-Boyles can bring to the NBA.

CSL’s Lacett also reported, from sources, that at least one projected lottery pick refused to work out with the Hornets because they don’t want to play with LaMelo Ball. It’s unclear who that player(s) is, but it will be a storyline starting in training camp on how whoever the Hornets draft gels with the rest of the team on the court.

This is the third consecutive year that the Hornets will have a top-six pick. In 2024, they selected Tidjane Salaun out of France sixth overall. The last time Charlotte drafted fourth overall was in 2013, when they selected Cody Zeller out of Indiana.

The first round of the 2025 NBA draft starts at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, June 25. The second round starts at the same time on Thursday, June 26.