Charlotte Hornets have signed rookie guard James Bouknight and rookie forward/center Kai Jones.
A 6-5 guard out of Connecticut, Bouknight was selected 11th overall by Charlotte at the 2021 NBA Draft after he averaged 18.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 31.7 minutes per game in 15 games during the 2020-21 season. For his performance, Bouknight was named to the All-BIG EAST First Team as well as NABC District I Player of the Year as a sophomore. Over his two seasons with the Huskies, Bouknight made 43 appearances and averaged 15.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 27.9 minutes per game.
Selected with the 19th overall pick out of Texas in the 2021 NBA Draft, Jones averaged 8.8 points and 4.8 rebounds in 22.9 minutes per game, appearing in 26 games during the 2020-21 season. Jones went on to being named 2020-21 Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year and was an All-Big 12 honorable mention. A native of the Bahamas, Jones averaged 6.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 19.8 minutes per game in 53 career games over his two-year collegiate career. The former Longhorn was acquired by the Hornets via a draft night trade with the New York Knicks as he became just the fifth Bahamian player to be selected in the NBA Draft.