Noah Vonleh has some star potential. The No. 9 pick in the draft out of Indiana can rebound right now and has shown some midrange offensive game, he just needs to put in the work, get stronger, learn NBA defenses and get a lot of polish on his offensive game.
But that project is going to be on hold for a couple months as he has undergone sports hernia surgery that will cause him to miss at least the start of training camp and could keep him out until the start of the season. The Hornets made the announcement on Tuesday.
Vonleh showed flashes of what could be in Las Vegas, particularly on the glass, but like a lot of rookies learning to bring it every night against better competition is a process.
“The thing I think he needs to do is: rebound. He has to continue to rebound. His second game in here he had 18 rebounds and it’s not been consistent,” Hornets Sumer League coach Patric Ewing told ProBasketballTalk at the time. “Do all the things that he can be consistent with until his offense and all the other parts of his game is able to get going. He has to get stronger. But he’s a talented guy and he’s going to be one of the guys who is going to have a bright future for our team and possibly could be a star in this league.”
This injury and the timing of it is a setback for a guy trying to get minutes in Charlotte. Hopefully he is able to get in some of training camp with the Hornets and can start to get in that work he needs to do.