The 2015 NBA draft is less than two months away, and for teams that aren’t still participating in the NBA playoffs, the focus is on using that event to build toward a better future. The exact draft order won’t be known until the May 19th lottery, when the simple bounce of a ping-pong ball can alter the fate of a franchise. Of course, having one of the top selections in any draft doesn’t guarantee that a team will snag a future All-Star. Team executives and scouts still have the difficult task of making the correct call with their picks.
With this in mind we at Hoops Rumors will be taking a look back at the draft history of the primary basketball executive for each NBA team. Their names, reputations, and possibly employment will be on the line as a result of the decisions to come on June 25th, and we’ll be examining what they’ve done in previous years in charge of a club’s front office. Note that many of them have played other sorts of roles within a team’s executive structure, but this won’t take that into account. We’ll begin with a look back at the calls made by Hornets GM Rich Cho…
Trail Blazers (July 2010-May 2011)
- No draft picks
Hornets (June 2011-Present)
2011 Draft
- No. 7 Overall — Bismack Biyombo *: 284 games, 4.4 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.6 BPG. .497/.000/.530.
- No. 9 Overall — Kemba Walker: 283 games, 16.3 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 5.4 APG. .395/.318/.814.
- No. 39 Overall — Jeremy Tyler **: 104 games, 3.6 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 0.2 APG. .450/.000/.557.
Notable players passed over: Klay Thompson (No. 11), Kawhi Leonard (No. 15). Nikola Vucevic (No. 16), Kenneth Faried (No. 22), Reggie Jackson (No. 24), Jimmy Butler (No. 30), Chandler Parsons (No. 38), and Isaiah Thomas (No. 60).
* The rights to Tobias Harris (No. 19) were traded on draft night as part of a three team deal between the Hornets, Bucks and the Kings. Charlotte received the rights to No. 7 overall pick Bismack Biyombo and Corey Maggette in return.
** Tyler was traded to the Warriors for cash.
2012 Draft
- No. 2 Overall — Michael Kidd-Gilchrist: 195 games, 9.0 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.3 APG. .464/.167/.689.
- No. 31 Overall — Jeff Taylor: 132 games, 6.1 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 0.8 APG. .409/.319/.665.
Notable players passed over: Bradley Beal (No. 3), Damian Lillard (No. 6), Andre Drummond (No. 9), and Draymond Green (No. 35).
2013 Draft
- No. 4 Overall — Cody Zeller: 144 games, 6.7 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.3 APG. .443/.500/.750.
Notable players passed over: Nerlens Noel (No. 6), Giannis Antetokounmpo (No. 15), and Rudy Gobert (No. 27).
2014 Draft
- No. 9 Overall — Noah Vonleh: 25 games, 3.3 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 0.4 BPG. .395/.385/.692.
- No. 26 Overall — P.J. Hairston *: 45 games, 5.6 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 0.5 APG. .323/.301/.861.
Notable players passed over: Elfrid Payton (No. 10), K.J. McDaniels (No. 32), and Jordan Clarkson (No. 46).
*Traded the No. 24 overall pick (Shabazz Napier) to the Heat for the No. 26 (Hairston) and No. 55 (Semaj Christon) picks. The rights to Christon were then dealt to the Thunder.
Note: Until last year, it wasn’t entirely clear how Charlotte delineated the structure of power and responsibility between Cho and former president of basketball operations Rod Higgins.