CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Don’t start printing those San Antonio jerseys bearing Victor Wembanyama’s name just yet.
There is one particular person who could envision a wild scenario where the Spurs throw a major curveball next month and instead pluck another individual off the board rather than the 7-foot-4 French phenom.
“For sure, I think I have the possibility of going No. 1,” G League Ignite’s Scoot Henderson said Wednesday at the NBA draft combine at Wintrust Arena. “And I believe in myself like any competitor should.
“I just always go back to my mentality and the work. I can’t wait to go back home and work hard just to get ready for the upcoming season regardless of where I go. As a competitor, I want to go No. 1 and I want to build that fan base in San Antonio. But wherever I go, I’m going to bring that winning mentality.”
Henderson’s dream of hearing his name called first in the June 22 draft isn’t likely to come true with Wembanyama set to be the top overall selection. So with the international wunderkind already cemented into his position, the spotlight is already shifting to what the Charlotte Hornets will do at No. 2.
And it’s quickly led to a bit of intrigue.
Essentially, the Hornets hold the keys to the whole draft, given they could grab either Henderson or Alabama’s Brandon Miller. Henderson is widely perceived as the second best player among the group, with pundits indicating he would likely be the one selected No. 1 if Wembanyama wasn’t also in the draft.
Miller, though, fills an immediate need at wing and is why many of the early mocks have him penciled in as the Hornets’ pick. He sure feels he’s worthy of being selected second overall.
“I think one thing that separates me from any player I would say is just being versatile,” Miller said. “I really take pride in the defensive side of the ball. I feel like there is more to the game than just offense. I feel like if your shot is not falling, what can you do to help a team win a game? And I think I can help with my defense, diving on the floor, getting 50-50 balls, defensive rebounds, taking charges.”
Miller met with the Hornets here this week and his skill set could make him an ideal fit, providing them with a two-way talent to groom and add to their young core. His position may give him the early edge since Henderson is considered more of a point guard — an area that’s not of need with LaMelo Ball entrenched as the starter and the real possibility unrestricted free agent Dennis Smith Jr. returns to serve as Ball’s backup.
But the presumed notion he can’t coincide in the same backcourt with Ball ticks Henderson off.
“It kind of does, honestly,” said Henderson, who hadn’t met individually with any teams yet. “I love seeing the two point guards. I love seeing that in action, actually. Jordan Poole and (Steph) Curry and how they used to operate in their time. I love seeing two good guards. It’s fun to watch.”
Which is why Henderson is convinced he’d form a nice tandem with Ball.
“I think I can play with anybody,” Henderson said. “I’m not too ball dominant. I do multiple things that impact the game, and wherever I go I’m going to be a winner. I’m going to keep that mentality in myself. Whatever team I go to, I’m going to impact the community and impact the city, and I’m going to impact the locker room.”
Miller hopes to do the same, but it may take him a bit longer to bulk up — he said he received feedback from teams about needing to hit the weight room more — and also be completely welcomed by everybody. He’s faced questions about delivering the gun to the scene of a fatal shooting in Alabama in January that led to the arrest of former Crimson Tide teammate Darius Miles.
Miller wasn’t directly charged with a crime because the Tuscaloosa chief district attorney said there was nothing they could charge him with. In speaking with the Hornets and the other teams he’s sat down with at the combine, Miller explained how the tragic incident transformed his line of thinking.
“The message that I’ve conveyed to them is it’s all a lesson learned,” Miller said. “You just always have to be aware of your surroundings and what you are surrounded by. I feel like the night could have changed my career in less than a heartbeat. So just always being aware of your surroundings.”
Is there anything he’d do differently?
“Just being more aware of my surroundings and what I’m surrounded by,” Miller said. “It could have changed the whole night.”
Miller said lately he’s relied more on the pros he’s already cool with. Washington’s Bradley Beal is one. Cleveland’s Darius Garland is another and Miller said the two chatted on Wednesday.
“That is literally like my big brother,” Miller said. “I talk to him every day. It’s important to just have guys like that to sit down and talk to like that, just for a mental state. I think everybody in the world should have a mentor like that.”
Debates regarding whether the Hornets will choose Miller or Henderson probably won’t subside until their actual pick is in next month. This is a selection the Hornets can’t get wrong, otherwise it can set any progress back and make the path to ending their seven-year playoff drought even more difficult.
Over the coming days and weeks, the Hornets’ basketball operations staff and scouting department will sift through all the information and interviews, pour over any pertinent statistical data and whatever else necessary to come to a general consensus on Henderson or Miller.
Henderson is sure if Wembanyama goes first, then he should be second.
“I think that I’m a guard and I can lead a group of men because that’s what I did in this second season (with the Ignite),” Henderson said, “is lead a group of men that played overseas, played plenty of NBA games.
“I led a group of men and I think that’s what separates me from a lot of prospects.”
