The 2014-15 NBA season has officially come to a close; a new champion has been anointed and the draft has concluded. The end of the NBA season is also the unofficial start of the worst five weeks in a sports fan's life as it is the slowest and quietest period of the year. There are some fairly minimal NBA trades that get done and there will be some free agent news to follow; however, there is little drama left to this offseason as the marquee players who were rumoured to be looking around have all penned new deals and those who remain unsigned are all figured to be staying put.
This is the fitting time of the year to sum up the NBA draft and profile the incoming lottery selections. eDraft Sports has highlighted the best sleeper picks of the draft and now we move into more in depth analysis of each lottery selection. Granted any true reflection on these players would be much better served after at least a couple seasons of experience; however, we will offer initial reviews and projections for the upcoming season.
As we continue our march through the top ten draft picks from this year's crop, our next stop is at the number nine pick that belonged to the Charlotte Hornets. Prior to the draft the Hornets were widely believed to be targeting the reigning National player of the year in Frank Kaminsky. Multiple reports were leaked that other teams were also purportedly interested in selecting Kaminsky and offers to Charlotte were made for the right to this pick.
Regardless of the reported offers, the Hornets stuck to their draft plan and nabbed Kaminsky here with their pick. Kaminsky could very well blossom into a solid NBA player as his skill set fits nicely with the NBA. He is a true stretch player who can cause matchup problems at both the power forward and centre spots. He is a very capable shooter who possesses NBA range to go along with excellent fundamentals.
With Kaminsky playing the pick and roll, high post or straight up stretch four role he will be a threat and will open the lane up for Al Jefferson to operate. In this role he figures to be more of a threat than Cody Zeller who will undoubtedly see a decrease in minutes once Kaminsky is fully acclimated to the Hornets offense.
Although Kaminsky doesn’t have the same kind of ceiling as some of the other top-ten draft picks he could very well be an NBA journeyman by the time his career is finished. His game is very well suited to professional ranks and so long as he can be consistent in knocking down enough outside shots that teams must respect him on the perimeter then he should continue to find gainful employment.