QCH Source: Hornets “Not Optimistic” on Working Out Many Lottery Prospects

With the draft process kicking into full swing, a number of Charlotte fans are keeping an eye out for potential number nine picks coming in and working out for the team. However, a source from within inside the Hornets organization told Queen City Hoops

“We’re not optimistic on working out many players who are in contention for the ninth pick.”

The source wished to remain anonymous. Of course this could change as we approach June 25th, but at this moment in time it looks as though the Hornets won’t have the benefit of assessing many of the lottery prospects in private workouts.

The source then went onto suggest:

“Agents don’t like to send players to a ninth spot team because they promise their guys they will be top five pick.”

This happens every year around draft time, you have around 10 players who are fed lies by their agents and then on draft night end up looking like this:

Of course Charlotte isn’t the biggest market for a star player, but there are a number of reasons scouts could be steering their players away from Charlotte in this particular draft. Many agents will look at last years ninth pick, Noah Vonleh and see he logged just 259 minutes this season. Clifford’s insistence to play veterans will certainly make agents worry about their players ending up there.

Another possible reason is the recent scouting re-shuffle has had some affect. Agents are likely unsure of the direction Charlotte is currently going in, with the scouts they were accustomed to working with now gone. It appears many of the scouts who have been let go were tied with Rod Higgins, so it seems as if these recent scouting re-shuffles were just more fall out from Rod’s mysterious departure earlier this year.

Another source told Queen City Hoop:

“The Hornets currently have RJ Hunter and Jerian Grant both scheduled for workouts.”

Both Grant and Hunter are viewed as late lottery/mid-first round picks. The source expect the majority of the upcoming workouts to be second round/Undrafted prospects who are canidates for the #39th pick, the summer league roster or the new D-League team. However, the NBA Draft is always full of surprises, keep an eye out for any prospects sharing agents with current Hornets players coming in for workouts.

In the end, the Hornets could convince agents of lottery-caliber prospects that it’s a good idea for their guys to workout in Charlotte. Who knows. One thing is clear though – very few have a good feel for what is truly going on in the Queen City in terms of player personnel decision making, or what direction the Hornets will go with the 9th pick on June 25th.