There’s a strong history of overachievers taken with the 27th overall pick in recent seasons, and the Charlotte Hornets will try to keep that trend going with the selection of Sidy Cissoko in the community mock draft that the Hornets front office definitely is reading and referring to when making their draft preparations. It was a much tighter race than the vote for the number two overall pick, which was thoroughly dominated by Scoot Henderson. Coincidentally enough, the two were teammates with G League Ignite last season, so clearly that’s the pathway to get to the Hornets.

Nick Smith Jr. gave him a little bit of a run for his money, but ultimately the At The Hive votes were pretty clear.

For those who don’t know who Cissoko is or only voted for him due to his above average name, he’s a toolsy, competitive wing with a good feel for the game and a super high motor. He has the size of a big wing but played some guard at the professional level in Spain before coming to the US to play for G League Ignite.

Offensively, he looks like a glue guy with some shot creator potential. He has some passing flair and makes good reads with the ball. He’s a work in progress as a jump shooter, but the form is workable and he’s shown steady improvement in that area as time as passed. He’s a wrecking ball in transition and is a threat on the break both as the ball handler and filling in the passing lanes.

Defense is where Cissoko shines the most though. He has a non stop motor on this end of the floor and has the physical tools to match up with most players. He’s strong defending in isolation and generated a strong 2.5 stocks (steals + blocks) per 36 minutes playing in the G League last season.

Cissoko would give the Hornets some more defensive pop off the bench while functioning as a good complementary play maker on a Hornets team that’s got a lot of guys that can do that.

And for those that are curious, Twitter went with Nick Smith Jr. with the 27th pick, though Cissoko finished second in the voting.