2023 Mock Draft 2.0: Spurs roll the dice, Hornets win Wembanyama sweepstakes

The Charlotte Hornets are back at the podium after making the easiest choice on the planet with Victor Wembanyama earlier in the draft, and with the 27th overall pick, they select who could make for an outstanding role player next to Wembanyama in Jett Howard.

The advantage-creating potential of a roster featuring both LaMelo Ball and Victor Wembanyama is astronomical, so the sensible thing for the team to do in that scenario would be to add more off-ball offensive threats into the mix, and that’s precisely what they would get with Howard. He’s fallen so far in this draft due to athletic and defensive concerns that cap his ceiling on that end of the floor pretty significantly, but those issues could be masked by Charlotte’s newfound defensive infrastructure in this scenario.

Howard is very safely one of the better long-distance shooters in his draft class, and having to worry about defending against that shooting in addition to Wembanyama, Ball, PJ Washington, and others should make a lot of teams very nervous. If Howard’s periodic flashes of playmaking also translate to the NBA, that will only add another concerning fold to Charlotte’s offense that other teams will have to keep in mind. In my eyes, not a lot of thought would have to go into this selection.