CHARLOTTE (CHARLOTTE SPORTS LIVE) — The NBA Draft Lottery revealed the Charlotte Hornets will be picking 6th in the upcoming draft. This will be the fifth time in ten seasons the Hornets are picking inside the top ten.
The Hornets finished in a tie for the league’s third-worst record going 21-61. This gave them the third-highest odds to have the number pick in the draft.
Going into the lottery, the Hornets knew they wouldn’t pick worse than seventh, with their highest odds being in the six slot at 27.1%.
The lottery prevents teams from egregiously tanking and every team not in the playoffs has a chance at a top-four pick. Those in playoffs will draft in the order in which they are eliminated.
In 2023, the Hornets were granted with the second overall pick and took Brandon Miller out of Alabama. He played in 74 games in his rookie year averaging 17.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists. Miller finished third for NBA’s rookie of the year.
The new draft selection will be paired with the Hornets’ new coach, top Celtics assistant Charles Lee. He has spent 10 years as an assistant in the NBA and has been with Boston since 2018.
The first round of the NBA Draft is on June 26.