The 2026-27 regular season has just begun for the Charlotte Hornets, but the front office has consistently preached a bright future for this franchise. The Hornets’ draft picks are the start of the massive flexibility Charlotte owns.
The Hornets moving on from LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges generated even more assets as the Hornets have taken a step back to further reevaluate their roster. It’s been tough to get a bird’s-eye view when the Hornets have sustained significant injuries in the past few months.
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With that said, here is the current outlook for the future Hornets’ draft picks in 2027.
The Hornets’ First-Round Draft Pick Arsenal Is Ginormous in 2027
May 10, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; A general view during the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery at Navy Pier. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images
The Hornets have a massive opportunity in the 2027 NBA Draft, with the chance to walk away with three first-rounders — draft capital almost no one else in the league can touch that year. However, each of these picks comes with a few caveats.
New Lottery System, But Hornets Draft Own First-Round Pick
Charlotte owns their 2027 first-round pick. This is pretty straightforward.
What will be different next year is the new NBA Draft Lottery system known as the 3-2-1 Lottery. Not only has the lottery teams been expanded to 16, but the ball allocation will be extremely different.
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Gone are the days when you could intentionally tank to be a bottom-three team in the league to guarantee a 14 percent chance to win the No. 1 overall pick. Now, the bottom three teams only have a 5.4 percent chance, while the next seven non-Play-In teams who hold a better record get an 8.1 percent chance.
If the Draft Lottery commenced today, the Hornets would hold an 8.1 percent chance to snag the No. 1 pick. Nonetheless, there are no other stipulations to owning their own pick. After the draft, it’ll be interesting to see what players the Hornets would protect in an expansion draft.
Hornets’ 2 Incoming First-Round Picks Have Protections
The Hornets also own two other protected first-round picks: one from the Dallas Mavericks and another from the Miami Heat. The pick from Dallas is top-2 protected, while Miami’s is lottery-protected.
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In layman’s terms, Charlotte will receive the Dallas pick as long as it lands anywhere outside of the No. 1 or 2 overall pick. For the Miami pick, the Heat have to make the playoffs for that pick to land outside of the lottery and convey to the Hornets.
However, if Miami misses the playoffs and they retain the 2027 first-round pick, Charlotte would actually receive Miami’s 2028 first-round pick unprotected. Either way, the Hornets are getting a pick one way or another.
The picks were acquired via the P.J. Washington and Terry Rozier trades. Both deals have looked like strong wins in the long run for Charlotte.
The best thing about holding three potential first-round picks is that you don’t have to use them come draft time. Charlotte’s current setup with their financial flexibility and draft capital puts them in a unique position to hunt a star player in the future.
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The Hornets are well under the first apron, have a huge $40.8 million traded player exception, and own a slew of draft picks that can be attached to any offer. Charlotte’s three-year outlook could dramatically change in one offseason.
What About Hornets’ Second-Round Picks?
First-round picks get all the buzz, but second-round picks are still valuable. According to RealGM, the Hornets currently own two-second round picks in 2027.
Their own pick will go to Oklahoma City or Sacramento, depending on where it lands. They own the rights to Memphis’s second-rounder, while also getting the more favorable of Portland’s or New Orleans’ for another pick.
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While these picks are generally less desirable than first-rounders, don’t think talent can’t be found in the later rounds. Jalen Brunson, Draymond Green, Nikola Jokic, Khris Middleton, and many more second-round picks have found success in the NBA to varying degrees.
For the Hornets, Ryan Kalkbrenner and Sion James, both of whom were second-round picks in the 2025 NBA Draft, have been strong contributors to the rotations since being selected. All in all, don’t sleep on the second-round picks.
The Last Word
The Hornets have a swath of draft capital and financial flexibility heading into 2027. Theoretically, they could end up with only one first-round pick in the 2027 NBA Draft if everything fell the wrong way, but the likelihood of that is tiny.
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General Manager Jeff Peterson has hinted in the past that the Hornets are targeting a star player, so it wouldn’t be shocking to see a big move in the next 365 days. Depending on how this season goes, the Charlotte roster could completely transform in 2027.
Featured Image: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
