Will 2025-26 be a 'redshirt' year for Hornets rookie Sion James?

In college football, a "redshirt" year is defined as "a year for a player to train and develop without using their athletic eligibility, effectively extending their college career by an extra year".

In professional sports, giving a player a "redshirt" year does not give them an extra year on their contract. It is used in all the same ways; however, as players get a year to train and develop.

Coming out of college, many players are still raw and need time to develop. While they are ready to leave college and join the pros, it does not mean they are ready to make the impact that team drafted them for out of the gates.

A recent example of this working in the NBA is Tyrese Maxey, guard for the Philadelphia 76ers. Maxey played in 61 games his rookie year, yet, would only play 15.3 minutes a night. Four years later, Maxey is an All-Star-level player who averaged 26.3 points a night in 37.7 minutes.

Some players need time to develop, and the Charlotte Hornets might have one themselves: Sion James, guard from Duke.

James started his college basketball career with four years at Tulane in the AAC. Across his four seasons with Tulane, Sion saw his numbers increasingly get better, averaging 14.0 points in his final year.

Shortly after, the guard transferred to Duke University, averaging 8.6 points a night on 51.6% from the field and 41.3% from deep. He made the 2024-25 ACC All-Defensive Team as well, and across his five years, James averaged 1.4 steals.

What makes redshirting Sion difficult is the fact that he is already 23 years old. He's played 153 college games, starting 139 of them. He's not a project player like Tyrese Maxey, Pascal Siakam, or even the Hornets' first first-round pick last season in Tidjane Salaun.

James is a defensive-minded wing, whom the Hornets have desperately searched for to put around LaMelo Ball. They've spent much of their offseason finding defensive-oriented players to help build around Ball, who has defensive capabilities that are sub-par at best. James is the perfect wing to put alongside him.

When looking at James' game, he plays similarly to Derrick White of the Boston Celtics. White spent two seasons at D2 UCCS before transferring to UC-Boulder in D1. After a strong year, the guard was selected 29th overall by the San Antonio Spurs at 22 years old.

Similar to James, White's offensive game was viewed as unpolished while his defensive game was NBA-ready. He spent part of his first season with the Spurs' G-League squad, playing only 17 games with the main team.

His three-point shot never came along until his Boston days, where White is now viewed as one of the premier role players in the NBA.

While James was never the scorer that White was in college, his shooting and defensive abilities are similar to the a near All-Star guard. While a redshirt season, just like White received, could be beneficial, giving James the reps in a young Hornets squad could be greater in the long term.

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