Hornets lock in top pick
Lottery shake-up
NEW YORK — Anthony Davis, get used to the Big Easy.
The New Orleans Hornets won the NBA draft lottery Wednesday, claiming the right to select college basketball’s player of the year and national champion with the top pick June 28.
“It’s like karma,” Davis said from Lexington, Ky. “Won the national championship there, so that’s exciting.”
For the eighth consecutive year, the team with the worst record and the best chance to land No. 1 got shut out. Not even Michael Jordan’s Charlotte Bobcats (7-59) could catch a break, dropping to No. 2.
“We will still take the best player available, and when you win seven games, you have a lot of holes,” said Bobcats general manager Rich Cho, the team’s representative on site. “We know we’re still going to get a good player.”
For the Hornets, it’s another major turn in the last two months. New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson agreed to purchase the Hornets from the NBA in April, committing to keep them in the city despite the team ranking 24th of 30 in attendance. Getting the first No. 1 pick since the team moved to New Orleans and adding Davis, the hands-down favorite, would be another step in stabilizing the franchise for fans.
“As we move forward, they can commit to our team in a major way now,” coach Monty Big draw: Anthony Davis was the NCAA’s player of the year. Williams said. “We’re going to be in New Orleans. We have new ownership. We have the No. 1 pick.”
After the Bobcats, the biggest losers were the Brooklyn Nets, whose first-round pick fell to the Portland Trail Blazers because it did not land in the top three. Nets GM Billy King said his team, relocating from New Jersey this offseason, might try to move up in the draft.
“Not having this pick doesn’t change anything in our draft,” King said. “If there’s a player we want, we’ll do everything we can to get that player.”
Benson and the Hornets have their choice, and it’s likely to be Davis. It helps take the sting out of losing star point guard Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers before the start of the season.
Davis, a 6-10 power forward, should provide an immediate boost to the Hornets’ average The order of the lottery teams for the NBA draft stayed the same for picks 14 through 5 — and that’s when it got interesting Wednesday. The top four picks as they are and were: Lottery Standings order order 1. New Orleans 1. Charlotte 2. Charlotte 2. Washington 3. Washington 3. Cleveland 4. Cleveland 4. New Orleans Full draft order list, 9C defense. He also could allow the team to save cap space by not having to re-sign free agent center Chris Kaman or power forward Carl Landry.
Davis and center Emeka Okafor, who missed most of last season, should solidify the rebounding and interior defense.
“Just the first step for us to win it all,” Benson said. “New Orleans right now still needs a lot more help, but we’re growing each day, getting better.”