All Hornets

Former NBA All-Star calls Charlotte the perfect destination for Cooper Flagg

The Hornets rebuild would be heavily accelerated if they can land the top pick in this year's draft.

Schuyler Callihan

Mar 14, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Cooper Flagg (2) walks to the bench during the first half against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
Mar 14, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Cooper Flagg (2) walks to the bench during the first half against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
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If there's one team in the NBA that could stand to have a little luck, it's the Charlotte Hornets. Over the last handful of years, they've experienced abnormal levels of injuries, which has completely stalled the team's rebuild and even sent it into another rebuild within the past year.

Injuries aside, the Hornets are also long overdue for the ping-pong balls to bounce in their direction for once. Charlotte has picked in the lottery nineteen of the last twenty NBA Drafts, including the last eight. This year makes it nine. In 1992, they landed the second overall pick, falling one spot short of being able to draft Shaquille O'Neal. In 2004, they just missed out on Dwight Howard. In 2012, it was Anthony Davis, and in 2023, it was Victor Wembanyama.

This summer, NBA teams will be hoping to luck out on landing the top pick to be able to take Cooper Flagg out of Duke, who has the look of a franchise changer. When asked about who the perfect destination would be for the soon-to-be No. 1 overall pick, former NBA player Gilbert Arenas went with the Hornets.

“You have a point guard, you have a shooting guard. You don’t have to be great at the beginning. Brandon Miller, he’s a two, so I can move him. I can have him and Melo at the backcourt, and now him and Miles Bridges, whoever has the better matchup, at the three/four, and then Mark Williams at the five. That team instantly would be like the Detroit Pistons. Cooper Flagg, he defends. He play hard as a motherf*****.”

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Schuyler Callihan
SCHUYLER CALLIHAN

schuylercallihan(at)gmail.com  Twitter:@Callihan_ Schuyler Callihan is the lead publisher of Mountaineers Now, All Panthers, and All Hornets on FanNation/Sports Illustrated. He took over publishing duties of All Panthers in 2020 and wanted to expand his professional coverage in the Queen City by running the operations at All Hornets. Schuyler attended Bethany College in Bethany, West Virginia before finishing up his schooling at Alamance Community College in Graham, North Carolina. The Wheeling, West Virginia native made the move to North Carolina in 2015 and has been in Charlotte since 2021.

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