2018DD
#11 — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — Charlotte Hornets
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated22 Nov 2021
The Charlotte Hornets have drafted Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out of Kentucky with the No. 11 pick overall.
However, he will be traded to the Clippers.
Clippers have acquired Gilgeous-Alexander in a trade with Hornets, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 22, 2018
Gilgeous-Alexander is an excellent pick. He is very talented and averaged 14.4 points, 5.1 assists, 4.1 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 0.5 blocks per game. He also shot 48.5 percent from the field, 40.4 percent from three and 81.7 percent from the free throw line.
He makes his teammates better and is a very good defensive point guard — one of the better in this draft class. He has great court vision, finishes in transition very well and will be a great asset to the Hornets or Clippers. He is also a solid finisher in traffic and has great basketball IQ.
What I love about his game the most is his defense at the lead guard position. Not many point guards are this good defensively at this age and he has room to improve as he adds muscle to his frame. Gilgeous-Alexander projects to be a solid contributor at the next level and should bring a lot of value to the Clippers as soon as next season.
