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The G-League has gotten underway and many will be tuning in this season with some exciting new players coming in. The G-League Ignite certainly is getting much of the attention with the young, rising stars they but there are others that we should be looking at. Even in our own state, we have the Greensboro Swarm that has some intriguing young talent.
One of those prospects that the Charlotte Hornets in the second round of the 2020 draft was the big man from Duke, Vernon Carey Jr. If you remember Carey at the high school level, he was a highly-ranked big with his ability to dominate down in the post but also step out. Every national outlet had him ranked as a 5-star prospect and it was easy to see why. He continued that impressive production at Duke as well, averaging 17 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game.
He was named to the All-ACC team, ACC All-Freshman team, and earned 2019-2020 ACC Rookie of the Year.
When the Hornets selected the young big, many thought it was a pretty good selection with what he has shown early on and as a young but rising big. Early on, it seems to be looking like a smart pick with his production level already with the Greensboro Swarm. Leading the G-League in scoring, Carey Jr. is averaging 25 points per game in only 30 minutes of playing time, shooting nearly 60 percent from the floor, and is averaging a double-double with 10 rebounds a game. And there is still room for growth and development, as he is only shooting 14 percent from three early on.
Now, one has to understand that that level of production may not continue with the Hornets but the one thing that Charlotte has been missing has been a consistent, productive big. Carey has shown early that he can be productive at the G-League level and the Hornets can only hope that they were able to secure a big for the future in the second round and show just a little what he has shown with the Swarm down the road with the Hornets.