According to a recent rumor, it would seem as though the Charlotte Hornets are looking for a way to move up in the 2016 NBA Draft where they hold the 22nd overall pick.

In a recent tweet from Tony Jones, he said that the Charlotte “Hornets are trying to move up.” Jones is an insider for the Utah Jazz and he writes for the Salt lake Tribune. It isn’t clear if the speculation over Charlotte moving up is true but it is intriguing nonetheless.

The Hornets currently hold the 22nd overall pick in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft. That is the only selection that the team has in this years’ draft as they do not have a second round pick. They also have limited resources in terms of assets to make a trade with as they try to move up.

This is not the deepest draft class in recent years but there are some top-level talents near the top of the draft. It is unclear how high the Hornets want to move up but near the lottery (top-14) might be a good guess. This is the first year that Charlotte will draft outside of the lottery since 2001.

For 11 of the past 12 NBA drafts, dating back to 2004, the Hornets have selected inside the top-12. The only year that they didn’t was when they did not have a draft pick in 2010. The team has recently been conducting pre-draft workouts with multiple first and second round projected prospects.

The 2016 NBA Draft is set to take place on Thursday, June 23rd at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The Hornets selected Frank Kaminsky in last year’s draft and the team has had a history of questionable draft choices. If they move up this year, they will have to make sure to get the right guy. We recently graded Charlotte’s recent draft selections here.

It will be interesting to see if the Charlotte Hornets do in fact make a trade to move up in the NBA Draft. This is not the deepest draft so it is unclear what spot the team will try to move up to. It would be a risky move that may pay off for them in the long run as they try to get the right guy for their team.