Hornets Mock Draft: Who Would Charlotte Select if They Jump Up in the Lottery?

Charlotte Hornets fans -- let me be one of the first to welcome you to mock draft season. The sun is shining, the world is blossoming with shades of green, and your favorite accountants from Ernst & Young are preparing for their annual pilgrammage to the NBA Draft lottery Chicago in a few short weeks.

To kick off the pre-draft proceedings, let's spin the Tankathon wheel and figure out where Charlotte's lottery pick ends up. With the 14th best odds in the lottery, the Hornets have a 2.4% chance of jumping into the top four, and a 0.5% chance of landing the number one overall pick.

Projecting the NBA Draft Lottery

1: Chicago Bulls - AJ Dybantsa
2: Charlotte Hornets - Cameron Boozer

There's just no way the Hornets will actually get this lucky on lottery night...right?

The Tankathon gods bestowed a blessing unto me in my first trip to the lottery simulator of the year, and that blessing will lead to the Hornets' second-straight selection of a Duke Blue Devil at the top of the draft.

Boozer is the type of physical, well-rounded power forward that Charlotte desparately needs. He checks a number of boxes for the Hornets in terms of pedigree, basketball IQ, shooting touch, hard-nosed rebounding, and at just 19-years-old, Boozer is just scratching the surface of his limitless potential.

He has dominated every level of basketball up to this point, and although his detractors will point to Boozer's lack of athleticism or a go-to move to create offense for himself, there is simply not a better fit for Charlotte in this draft class. Boozer will slide nicely into the Hornets' starting five as a low-usage, high-productivity power forward that will happily do the dirty work to accentuate the strengths of Charlotte's big three (Ball, Knueppel, and Miller) while fillings in the gaps that are necessary.

If drafting Kon Knueppel in 2025 was a home run, landing Boozer in 2026 would be a walk-off grand slam for Jeff Peterson.

Others in consideration: Wilson, Peterson, Wagler.

3: Golden State - Darryn Peterson
4: Utah Jazz - Kinston Flemings
5: Washington Wizards - Caleb Wilson
6: Los Angeles Clippers - Keaton Wagler
7: Brooklyn Nets - Brayden Burries
8: Sacramento Kings - Darius Acuff Jr.
9: Memphis Grizzlies - Mikel Brown Jr.
10: Atlanta Hawks - Yaxel Lendeborg

11: Dallas Mavericks - Labaron Philon Jr.
12: Milwaukee Bucks - Nate Ament
13: Oklahoma City Thunder - Daylin Swain
14: Miami Heat - Aday Mara
15: Chicago Bulls - Hannes Steinbach
16: Memphis Grizzlies - Morez Johnson Jr.
17: Charlotte Hornets - Bennett Stirtz

I do believe that if Charlotte makes both of these picks on draft night, one of them will be a front court player, and the other will be a lead guard to fortify the bench. Sion James did a fine job at moonlighting as a point guard when the Hornets were without LaMelo Ball or Coby White, but Charlotte would do well to invest in a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option with a high ceiling like Stirtz.

Stirtz shouldered a heavy playmaking load in his one season at Iowa, and he put up dazzling stats with impressive efficency. The 6'4" 22-year-old can pick apart defenses on the perimeter with his shot (Stirtz attempted 49% of his shots from behind the arc and connected on 35.8% of them) and as a play maker. There were few players in the country, let alone this specific draft class, that showed the same level of feel as a pick and roll ball handler that Stirz did this season -- a key trait for guards that Charles Lee would want to run his ball screen heavy offense.

Along with his perimeter acumen, Stirtz has proven to be a solid finisher around the rim too, shooting 70.5% at the cup in 2025-26. Iowa's offense played at a snail's pace, forcing Stirtz to operate in the half court without the benefit of free buckets in transition. His high-level production in Iowa's rigid system points to a high ceiling that a good coach staff in the league should be able to tap into.

There are a couple of other options on the board for Charlotte here: Koa Peat, Joshua Jefferson, Isaiah Evans, Jayden Quaintance, to name a few; but Stirtz is the pick for now.

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