Gordon: Don’t overthink this, Charlotte. Draft Scoot Henderson

The report emerged Tuesday night via ESPN: The Charlotte Hornets favor Alabama wing Brandon Miller with the No. 2 pick Thursday in the NBA draft.

To that, I write this:

Don’t overthink this one, Charlotte.

Draft G League Ignite point guard Scoot Henderson instead.

Bypassing on Henderson would be the latest and greatest mistake made by the Hornets, who’ve but three playoff victories since the franchise was resurrected in 2004 while doubling as the league’s most dysfunctional team under outgoing owner Michael Jordan.

Case in point — if their dubious draft history wasn’t enough — they’re reportedly prepared to let Henderson thrive elsewhere.

“Probably until tomorrow, there won’t be a decision,” Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak told reporters Wednesday at a predraft press conference. “Even if we know what we’re going to do today, do tomorrow morning, we’re hoping to keep it quiet. You never know what might happen in the moments leading up to the draft that might change something.”

Perhaps an epiphany for Kupchak and his superiors.

Tangibles and intangibles

Miller is undoubtedly a premier prospect: a smooth 6-foot-9-inch scoring wing who averaged 18.8 points and 8.2 rebounds and shot 38.4 percent from 3-point range to lead a resurgent Alabama squad.

It’s easy to envision him manning the wing alongside fourth-year standout LaMelo Ball, among the only draft picks the Hornets have nailed.

What Miller isn’t, though, is Henderson, a natural leader whose prodigious professionalism belies his equally conspicuous, tantalizing set of skills.

Never mind his sturdy 6-2, 195-pound frame. His power and explosiveness in transition and at the basket. His poise at the point when he probes the paint to manipulate openings for shooters and cutters.

It’s his maturity and unrelenting drive that further separate him from his prospect peers.

As Henderson told me in September, “My main goal was to go to the league,” words backed by action throughout his upbringing in suburban Atlanta. His work ethic is exemplary, dating back to his stint at Kell High School in Marietta, Georgia, where he’d often train from sunup to sundown.

Of course he’d sign with Ignite, who offered the most rigorous route to the NBA and an opportunity for Henderson at 17 to play two seasons against the kind of men he’ll play against this fall.

He seized the stage in those two seasons, averaging 16.1 points, 5.4 assists and 1.4 steals in 46 games — none more impressive than his 29-point, nine-assist master class in Henderson last October opposite soon-to-be No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama and Metropolitans 92 before hundreds of NBA personnel.

Asked last month at the NBA scouting combine what he’ll bring to the Association, Henderson said: “My personality and my winning mentality and how I can come to an organization pretty young, but still impact it.

“Impact the locker room and impact the community and come for one reason — that’s to win rings.”

Forget about fit

In deference to Miller, Henderson’s 3-point shot (32.3 percent in 2022-23) is still developing — and he overlaps positionally with Ball, who averaged 23.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 8.4 assists during an injury-plagued 2022-23 campaign.

But Henderson works far too hard to not improve as a shooter. Plus, even Kupchak acknowledged the obvious: “We’re not good enough to focus on fit.”

Neither were the Sacramento Kings in 2020, when they drafted promising prospect Tyrese Haliburton despite the presence of point guard De’Aaron Fox. The uncomfortable fit prompted the Kings to trade Haliburton the following season to the Indiana Pacers for All-Star big man Domantas Sabonis.

They made the playoffs this season as Fox evolved into an All-Star, while Haliburton did the same.

Charlotte could do something similar if need be … so long as it drafts Henderson instead of Miller.

“Right now it’s about adding the best player we can possibly add to the team,” Kupchak said. “We’re ready to take the player that’s best for this organization moving forward.”

Not if they don’t take Henderson.

Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.