Lea: Hornets building something special with G-League team
Posted November 20, 2021 9:17 p.m. EST
We love our basketball in the Triangle, which is natural when you have top programs like NC State, North Carolina and Duke with so much rich history. Those programs, the big time college basketball feel and the chance to witness and cover history were the deciding factors for me accepting the job to come to WRAL last year. Simply put, the basketball experience in the Triangle is second to none in my opinion.
But there's something brewing about 80 miles west, where I moved here from in Greensboro. A taste of the highest level of basketball that you can witness - the NBA, but the players who are one roster opening away from getting the call to play inside of NBA arenas.
Since the Greensboro Swarm began five seasons ago, former college stars and now current NBA stars have passed through to play ball in the cozy Greensboro Coliseum Fieldhouse arena. This is the highest level of basketball you can find between Charlotte and the Triangle.
This is the place where the Charlotte Hornets sent Raleigh native Devonte Graham to play most of his rookie year in the NBA and a big reason as to why he turned himself into a sought after free agent this past off season. The future of basketball come through these doors, so I had to hop in the car on my night off and sit court side to witness the NBA's rising stars.
The Charlotte Hornets received 'A' draft grades from almost every draft analyst this past summer when they used their two first round draft picks to select UConn's James Bouknight and Texas' Kai Jones. If they could turn a second-rounder like Graham into a sought after free agent, certainly they can develop Bouknight and Jones into key pieces to the franchise's future.
The Hornets also made sure to sign LaMelo Ball's big brother LiAngelo Ball to the Swarm to see if he has what it takes to potentially develop into a future star like his baby brother.
Tonight, the Swarm hosted the Lakeland Magic, the NBA G-League Affiliate of the Orlando Magic.
Almost immediately you can see that Bouknight will be a major part of the Hornets rotation eventually. In the first half, he helped the Swarm climb out of a 10-point deficit to eventually go into the half with an 8-point lead. His ability to score on all-three levels, play defense and facilitate offense, showed why the Hornets decided to choose him with the 11th overall pick in this year's draft.
The second half was slower for Bouknight in terms of scoring, but he never let up on his ability to make plays for his team and take control when its needed most. Bouknight turned the ball over in the final seconds of the game as the Swarm were looking to tie or take the lead with a three one of his few mistakes of the game. He finished with 27 points.
The first half wasn't a good showing for 19th overall draft pick Kai Jones. Jones finished the first half with 4 points and a single rebound, but mostly because he couldn't stay on the floor with three personal fouls and a technical. Jones ended up fouling out late in the 4th quarter with nine points. While Jones didn't have the game you'd expect from a top 20 NBA Draft pick, the reps he's getting in Greensboro is probably more valuable than sitting the bench behind Mason Plumlee and Vernon Carey with the Hornets.
Fans may have left disappointed that Ball never was inserted into the game. During the 4th quarter the crowd chanted 'We want Gelo!' numerous times trying to persuade the coaching staff to sub in the popular Ball brother. The knock on Ball is defense and the lack of creating off the dribble like his brothers Lonzo and LaMelo.
The Swarm weren't able to get the win, but watching the future of the Hornets franchise was encouraging. The Hornets are building something special right now and part of that goes through the Greensboro Coliseum Fieldhouse, as they've shown a knack for developing great players.
