The Charlotte Hornets are being predicted to land an international star this NBA offseason.
The Charlotte Hornets are one of the top up and coming teams in the NBA right now, as they are teeming with young talent and have a great chance of making the playoffs this year thanks to their surge the last couple of months.
Of course, in order for the Hornets to truly take that next step, they'll need to make the right moves this summer. Let's face it: they still have work to do.
While Charlotte can explore trades to bolster its roster, the Hornets' most likely route will be building their squad through the NBA Draft, which is how they got to this point to begin with.
Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman recently put together a mock draft, and with the 13th pick, he has Charlotte selected New Zealand Breakers standout Karim Lopez.
"NBA people are including Karim Lopez in the lottery discussion, as he's now averaging 14.3 points over his last 10 games," Wasserman wrote. "Even at 18 years old in a physical pro league, he's outmuscled bigs and wings inside the arc. Though not overly explosive, he's strong with the ball, while the flashes of ball-handling, shotmaking and passing create theoretical versatility NBA teams crave from the power forward slot."
Charlotte Hornets coach Charles Lee. Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images.Lopez is averaging 11.9 points and 6.1 rebounds over 25.8 minutes per game on 50.2/30.6/71.7 shooting splits this season.
The youngster began his professional career playing for Joventut of La Liga in 2023-24, where he appeared in just four games. He then made his way to the NBL the following season, linking up with the Breakers.
Lopez flashed considerable potential during his debut campaign in New Zealand, registering 9.6 points and 4.7 boards a night.
The 6-foot-8 forward out of Mexico has been rising up draft boards in recent weeks, and it stands to reason that he could be a lottery pick this June.
He also would represent a potentially nice fit alongside of Charlotte's impressive young trio of LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel.
Lopez is viewed as the best international prospect in this year's draft class, but whether or not he would actually be ready to come over to the NBA and contribute right away remains to be seen.
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