Buzzing with Potential: Hornets Young Guns to Watch for the Rest of the 2023-24 NBA Season!

The Charlotte Hornets have endured two injury-riddled seasons from LaMelo Ball, and Mark Williams, the team’s nascent rim protector, has failed to avoid the injury bug as well. As a result, the Hornets, a franchise that was on the precipice of making the playoffs not too long ago (they won 43 games during the 2021-22 campaign), have plummeted to the bottom of the league’s totem pole.

Currently, the Hornets have a 17-50 record, and all they are playing for now to end the season are lottery odds to add another blue-chip prospect to their young core. With no urgent incentive to win now, the Hornets can then give fans a glimpse of the future, handing over the reins of the team to some of their better prospects, two of whom being recent additions to the squad over the past two months.

Without further ado, here are three young players Hornets fans must focus on as they look to finish the 2023-24 NBA season on a high note.

Any discussion involving the Hornets’ youngsters or the Hornets’ future starts and stops with Brandon Miller. LaMelo Ball is the team’s established star, and Miller looks like the ideal running mate for Ball for years to come.

Miller entered the 2023 NBA Draft with plenty of concerns, particularly with his off-court troubles, lack of burst when finishing at the rim, and tendency to settle for jumpshots. Many then believed that the Hornets should have taken Scoot Henderson with the second overall pick instead. Miller did not help matters at all when he struggled out of the gates during Summer League.

But Brandon Miller, over the past few months, has established himself as a future star for the Hornets. Since January 19 (the date of Miller’s return from a minor injury), the Hornets rookie has averaged 20.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.3 steals while shooting 45.3 percent from the field and 36.2 percent from deep on 7.6 attempts per game — amazing numbers for the 21-year old wing.

Miller has started to make good on his potential as a dynamic, shot-creating two-way wing in the mold of late-career Paul George, his idol. George was more athletic and more raw on the offensive end during his youth than Miller, but Miller has the smoothness, composure, and three-level scoring that the older version of the Los Angeles Clippers star has.

Now, the goal for Brandon Miller is to tighten up his handle. George has become the star that he is because he blends his sweet shooting stroke with a deep bag of ballhandling tricks, allowing him to function as an initiator of the offense. Over the last 15 games of the season, Hornets fans will be wondering just how far Miller can take his game as he prepares for a big sophomore season.

Tre Mann

With the Oklahoma City Thunder, Tre Mann did not have an opportunity to cement a rotation spot. After all, the Thunder roster is full of quality guards, and Mann, as a result, was lost in the shuffle. Thus, it was a good buy-low opportunity for the Hornets when they acquired Mann in the trade that sent Gordon Hayward away.

Mann possesses jitterbug dribbling ability, as the separation he gets from his defenders is quite remarkable. With the Hornets, Mann will have as many minutes as he can handle, and thus far, he is showing that he might be a keeper for the team for the future.

In 13 games with the Hornets, Tre Mann has averaged 11.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.5 assists, flashing a well-rounded game, and his shooting splits have been solid at 45/37/72. Mann is playing unselfish basketball, splitting playmaking duties with Vasilije Micic, and he is letting the game come to him, not forcing the issue and playing within the Hornets offense.

At this point, Mann is deferring the scoring burden to Miles Bridges and Brandon Miller, among others; Bridges may not be with the Hornets next season, so Mann might be better off beginning to assert himself in the final few games of the season.

Aleksej Pokusevski

Yet another youngster plucked from the Thunder, Aleksej Pokusevski was well worth a flier for the Hornets. Pokusevski is a 7’0 forward with some ballhandling zest, and with Charlotte having nothing to play for anyway, why not give Poku an opportunity to prove that he’s worthy of a second contract in the NBA?

Pokusevski immediately got himself a rotation role upon his arrival in Charlotte, and he, for the most part, has been okay, except for a horrid 2-9 shooting display against the Phoenix Suns on Friday night. It’s important to note, however, that he is only 22 years old, so there might be some untapped potential left for the Hornets to bring out of the lanky forward out of Serbia.