We just got done with the 2024 NFL Draft if you’re into that sort of thing, so the smell of drafts is in the air. The Charlotte Hornets and a lot of the rest of the NBA have turned their attention to the NBA Draft, which is now less than two months away and will take two days now. With the draft lottery, workouts, and combine still yet to occur, a lot can change between now and draft time. But we’re still going to evaluate the current landscape because what else are we going to talk about.

ESPN: Rob Dillingham, Guard, Kentucky

I’ve always thought mocking Dillingham to the Hornets was a weird fit. I know contracts and age and all that stuff, but it feels like the Hornets would just be rerunning the LaMelo Ball-Terry Rozier pairing. Not that it was terrible, per se, but it was never the best fit. Dillingham is a scoring combo guard that can hit threes and create shots for himself off the dribble.

The Ringer: Nikola Topic, Guard, Crvena Zvezda (Serbia)

Topic is a big Goran Dragic-like guard that gets downhill and attacks the basket. He has a deep bag of crafty finishes at the rim, mostly off one foot. He complements that with good play making and unselfish passing. He has to improve as a shooter and defender.

Bleacher Report: Donovan Clingan, Big, UConn

The snippet in the Bleacher Report article implies that they don’t realize that the Hornets invested a first round pick in Mark Williams a couple years ago and that he’s been very good when he plays. Still, Clingan is a defensive force that was a key part of UConn’s back to back title runs.

Yahoo: Stephon Castle, Guard, UConn

Another prospect from UConn. That tends to happen when you win championships. Castle is a very good perimeter defender, which fills a void on the Hornets roster. He hasn’t been a good shooter yet, but he’ has moments where he gets hot ‘s a decent free throw shooter and has good touch around the basket, so there’s some hope that he can become passable there.

Tankathon: Reed Sheppard, Guard, Kentucky

Sheppard is an undersized but tenacious defender that hit 52% of his threes as a freshman at Kentucky. He averaged 3.1 steals and 0.9 blocks per game despite the size concerns but laid an egg in the Wildcats’ first round exit from the NCAA Tournament.

NBA Draft Net: Dalton Knecht, Wing, Tennessee

Knecht is already 23 years old after rising through the NCAA from junior college to Northern Colorado to Tennessee. There, he was one of the nation’s most prolific scorers. He has a high motor and can put the ball in the basket, but there are major question marks about his defense given that he struggled pretty badly at that as a fifth year senior.