The "Idea" of James Bouknight That Never Was
With a matter of hours until the October 31st deadline it was reported that the Charlotte Hornets made the decision to decline James Bouknight's 4th year team option. This won't catch anyone by surprise, after injuring his meniscus in training camp any chance Bouknight had to earn the franchise's faith had fizzled away. Before 2023 the Hornets had never turned down a 4th year team option for a lottery pick, after waiving Kai Jones in September they have now (essentially) done it twice. The curse of the first round of the 2021 draft will go down in Hornets folklore. The haunting continues to weigh down Charlotte's future with a lottery protected 1st round pick still owed from the Kai Jones trade.
After drafting Bouknight 11th overall Mitch Kupchak stated “There was as much demand for that pick this year as I've ever seen… but we're very happy that we stayed where we are." Bouknight spoke to the Charlotte media and labelled his time with the Hornets as going to be "Box office". He went on to say “My whole life I’ve been slept on, Charlotte took this chance, and I’m not going to let them down.” Fast forward two years and Bouknight has failed to keep his word. The journey from an exciting young lottery pick to irrelevance has been steady over a forgettable three years.
James Bouknight Timeline
2021 Summer League Struggles - Perhaps the first warning sign was when Bouknight was clearly outplayed by Davion Mitchell at 2021 Summer League. Immediately questions arose about his over dribbling, inefficient play and ability to play in a team system.
2021-22 NBA Season Spotlight- After a rookie year where minutes were hard to come by, Bouknight appeared to voice his displeasure and began to approach James Borrego during a game before Security stepped in to stop Bouknight, later removing him from the bench. Borrego was heavily scrutinized by Hornets fans for his "Treatment" of Bouknight, fast forward two years and I imagine he feels vindicated.
2022 Training Camp - Off the court Bouknight has been the focus of some worrying headlines. First, Bouknight was ejected from the Xavier-UConn game after sitting courtside. Not the end of the world, even funny in some ways, but of much more serious concern was just days before the 2022 training camp started when he was found passed out drunk in his car with a gun in his hand and charged with a DWI. The details around this incident signalled a young player who was spiralling off the court with an unhealthy lifestyle and an inability to stay out of trouble.
2022 & 2023 Off-Season - Bouknight has suffered a string of untimely injuries, this is an area that can be pointed out as being "Bad luck". He missed the 2022 Summer League due to wrist surgery and then suffered a meniscus injury in 2023 training camp. There were other hand and neck injuries during his first two seasons which led to him missing time. Details around the origin of his injuries in 2022 were at times lacking, leading to speculation they were non basketball related.
Bouknight's On-Court Struggles
If you look at any of these single incidents in isolation you can put it down to a single mistake from a young man finding his way. But together, they paint a picture which hints at a lack of maturity and reliability. Now if James Bouknight was progressing and making an impact on the court, then maybe the team finds a way to look past his poor track record. Unfortunately, Bouknight has been struggled mightily when given the opportunity. His supporters will point to his three 20+ point games and the lack of playing times from his coaches, but at this point these are excuses are reserved for only the delusional.
At the start of the 2022-23 season injuries created an opportunity which Steve Clifford willingly gave to James Bouknight, playing 17mpg for 20 straight games to open the season. In those minutes Bouknight averaged 5.3 pts 2.4 reb 1.4 ast 1.5 pf shooting an awful 37% from the field and 24% from three, getting to the free throw line less than once per game. In November 2022 I researched several NBA stats to see where each Hornets player ranked, Bouknight came in at 365th. Not only was that rank the worst on the team, it was one of the worst of any player in the NBA receiving regular minutes.
Halfway through his Hornets career he dialled back his offensive game and tried to become a 3&D wing in an effort to find a more efficient role. I commend Bouknight's effort to try and reinvent himself, but in reality it was a desperate last resort. He never had the skillset to play that role, struggling defensively and being streaky shooter. What made Bouknight an exciting prospect was his shot making and transition play, without that he looked lost as an NBA player.
If Bouknight has been dominating the G-League or showing growth in Summer League then at least there is something to point to in terms of progress. Unfortunately, Both James Borrego and Steve Clifford knew there was simply no way they could gift Bouknight playing time without compromising their trust with other players and damaging the team's chances to win games.
I'll always remember watching Bouknight in person at the 2022 NBA Summer League. Despite being injured, I watched him closely on the bench to see how he engaged. Honestly, he looked like he didn't want to be there. He was disinterested, wondering off from the bench in key moments of the game and busy on his phone or chatting to the team's kit man, paying little attention to his teammates in the final possessions of an overtime against the Lakers.
Those who follow me closely will know I have long been a Bouknight sceptic. His body language and maturity stuck out to me early as not only immature, but outright disinterested.His lack of attention to detail on the court and decision making often left me shaking my head. However, this isn't the victory lap I ever wanted to run.
