Jul 12, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Charlotte Hornets center Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) battles for the ball with Philadelphia 76ers guard Judah Mintz (33) and forward Adem Bona (30) in the first quarter of their game at Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images Candice Ward-Imagn Images

Hornets front office exec believes Charlotte pulled off NBA's 'best draft'

Originally posted on Charlotte Hornets on SI
By Zach Roberts | Last updated Jul 23, 2025 11:17 AM ET

The Charlotte Hornets went into the NBA draft with three picks and ended up making four selections, all of whom look to be future contributors. A few of them, especially after Summer League, look like their contributions will happen on day one. It was, by most accounts, a very solid draft.

According to one Hornets executive who works in the front office, it was not only a solid draft but the league's best. Per Spotrac, one exec said plainly, "We had the best draft in the league. Of course, 29 other teams will probably say the same thing,” a Hornets front office executive said. “But we’re fired up."

Why does this executive feel that the Hornets nailed it? Because the team got exactly what it wanted: players to complement existing stars, LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller. Kon Knueppel and Liam McNeeley, according to the executive, are perfect options for that.

"We didn’t want one-skill guys. We all saw Indiana and the Thunder, right? You have to be able to be versatile. We’re getting there," he said of Knueppel and McNeeley. But the draft didn't end after round one.

The exec went on, "We hit in the second round with Sion (James) and Ryan (Kalkbrenner) too. We considered both of them at 29, but knew that Liam wouldn’t come back around. So, we held our breath and still got both guys. Internally, we’ve said we feel like we have four first-rounders, because all four guys we got had first-round evaluations on our board.”

Time will ultimately tell whether or not the Hornets did nail it and determine which team actually did have the best draft. For now, it looks good on paper, and internally, there's a strong belief that the draft this year was a huge turning point for this franchise, which is incredible given that they missed out on the first overall pick.