The Charlotte Hornets were surprisingly able to land guard James Bouknight with the 11th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. Late mock drafts had him going as high as sixth overall to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Hornets apparently didn’t expect the UConn product to fall that far, and they promptly selected the 20-year-old.
Expectations were very high for Bouknight’s rookie season. There were many a Hornets fan who thought Bouknight would have an outside shot at rookie of the year. Instead, he was glued to the bench for the vast majority of the season and only really played meaningful minutes when the Hornets desperately needed bodies.