Charlotte Hornets 2024 NBA Draft preview – At The Hive

What: 2024 NBA Draft

When:
1st round: Wednesday, June 26, 8:00pm Eastern
2nd round: Thursday, June 27, 4:00pm Eastern

Where:
1st round: Barclays Center; Brooklyn, NY
2nd round: ESPN Seaport District Studios, New York, NY

How to watch: ESPN, ABC (1st round only)

The 2024 NBA Draft is finally upon us, and we get our first look at the league’s new format. The draft has been expanded to a two day event with one round on each day. The first round will function the same way it always has with five minutes between picks. The second round (which starts in the middle of the afternoon for some reason) will extend from two minutes to four minutes between picks.

The Charlotte Hornets will have the 6th pick in the first round on Wednesday and the 12th pick (42nd overall) in the second round on Thursday. The Hornets will probably announce their first round pick sometime around 8:30 Eastern time if that’s all you want to tune in for. I have no idea how the second round will look since the NBA has never done the draft this way before.

According to DraftKings, Dalton Knecht is the betting favorite to land with the Hornets, followed by Stephon Castle and Donovan Clingan. Castle is the most frequently mocked to the Hornets according to the NBA’s consensus mock draft.

We’ve done other scouting reports if you want to familiarize yourself with some of the possible selections. Along with Knecht and Castle, we’ve done:

You can also check out our most recent mock draft roundup to see who different outlets project to go to the Hornets.

It feels like a transitional draft for the Hornets, though we’ve probably been saying that for a few years now. LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, and Mark Williams seem like cornerstone pieces if all three can stay healthy. While this draft is weak at the very top, the Hornets can expect a player at six that’s reasonably close to the normal value of a sixth overall pick, and that can be another key piece of the core.

After the picks are made and the draft is done, we’ll turn our attention to the Summer League to see the debut of the new players in purple and teal. The Hornets will start that on July 6th.