Hornets win NBA draft lottery; Cavs are No. 4

Associated Press

NEW YORK

New owner, and now a new star player coming to New Orleans.

And yet another loss — in a historic season full of them — for Michael Jordan and the Charlotte Bobcats.

The Hornets, recently sold by the NBA to Saints owner Tom Benson, won the NBA’s draft lottery Wednesday and the No. 1 pick overall — which they almost certainly will use to pick Kentucky star Anthony Davis.

At least that’s what the consensus college player of the year is expecting. Moments after the Hornets won the lottery, Davis said he was looking forward to playing professionally in the place where he led the Wildcats to a national championship in April.

The good news for the Hornets comes after a difficult season in which they traded All-Star Chris Paul.

“Just a first step for us to winning it all,” Benson said in a TV interview after the lottery.

The Hornets moved up from the fourth spot, where they had a 13.7 percent chance, to earn the pick.

“Everything was surreal once they announced the fourth pick,” said Hornets coach Monty Williams, who represented the team on stage. “I said ‘This is pretty cool.’ I knew my wife and kids were home praying that things would go well and they did.”

The Bobcats, after going 7-59 for the worst winning percentage in NBA history, fell to the No. 2 pick. Washington will pick third and Cleveland fell one spot to fourth.

The Cavs beat the odds last year and moved up to take Kyrie Irving, the eventual Rookie of the Year, and tried to follow the same formula. Nick Gilbert, the 15-year-old son of owner Dan Gilbert, was back on the podium in his bow tie, and the Cavs’ traveling party that included Dan Gilbert, and former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar and current Browns players Josh Cribbs and Joe Haden sported the same dress.

But there was no repeat, as the Cavs went backward this time.

“Still feel very good about [number] 4 pick,” Dan Gilbert wrote on his Twitter page. “We are getting a great player there and good additions w/our other 3 picks. I believe.”

Charlotte had a 25 percent chance of grabbing the No. 1 pick, but instead will have to take the best player after Davis, possibly his teammate, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

The team with the worst record hasn’t won since Orlando drafted Dwight Howard in 2004.

“We will still take the best player available and when you win seven games you have a lot of holes,” Bobcats general manager Rich Cho said.

The draft will be held June 28 in Newark, N.J.