5 Struggling Teams That Desperately Need to Cash in on Deep 2012 NBA Draft
The 2012 NBA draft is expected to produce a slew of impact players.
Possible future stars who will hear their names called this June include Kentucky's Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, North Carolina's Harrison Barnes and Duke's Austin Rivers.
And don't forget about guys like Kansas' Thomas Robinson, Connecticut's Andre Drummond and Jeremy Lamb, as well as Florida's Bradley Beal.
There are a bunch of struggling ball clubs that need to land a star in this year's ridiculously deep draft.
This slideshow will focus on five of those teams.
Charlotte Bobcats
1 of 5David Stern should just go ahead and give Charlotte the first pick in the draft.
The Bobcats aren't just the NBA's worst team this season; they're the worst team in NBA history.
And that's crazy to think about knowing that their owner, Michael Jordan, is considered the greatest basketball player of all time.
Anyway, the 7-59 Bobcats just might luck out by winning the lottery and getting their hands on future superstar Anthony Davis. The shot-blocking big man alone won't instantly turn the franchise into a title contender, but he's definitely a guy you can build around for years to come.
Washington Wizards
2 of 5The Wizards sport some pretty cool uniforms, they have one of the league's best young point guards in John Wall, and they feature a solid big man in Nene.
Now they need to go out and draft a player who's going to help bring the NBA playoffs back to D.C.
The superathletic Michael Kidd-Gilchrist would be perfect as he could team with Wall to form an extremely exciting one-two punch.
Thomas Robinson and Andre Drummond would be great as well, and you never know—the Wizards could very well receive the top pick and snag Anthony Davis.
Detroit Pistons
3 of 5The Pistons reached the Eastern Conference finals six consecutive years from 2003-2008. During that span, the team won a title in 2004 and made the NBA Finals once again the following year.
Nowadays, the glory days in Motown are long gone as the rebuilding Pistons are one of the biggest laughingstocks in the league.
The team's biggest need is a big man to pair with future All-Star Greg Monroe in the frontcourt. North Carolina's Tyler Zeller and John Henson would both be good fits, and maybe Ohio State's Jared Sullinger.
It'll be interesting to see whom GM Joe Dumars ends up choosing.
Portland Trail Blazers
4 of 5Led by Greg Oden, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, the Blazers were supposed to be basketball's next dynasty.
However, as we all know, that never quite materialized.
The always-injured Oden is no longer a Blazer, and Roy is now retired after just five seasons in the league.
Aldridge, however, is still in Portland and is one of the best big men in the game today.
The Blazers, who own not one, but two lottery picks this year, need to surround Aldridge with quality talent. They could use a center like Tyler Zeller and a point guard of the future like Kendall Marshall or Damian Lillard.
New Orleans Hornets
5 of 5The Hornets were downright awful this season. With Chris Paul out of the picture and Eric Gordon only appearing in a few games due to injury, it's not shocking at all that the team struggled.
However, if you're a Hornets fan, you have to be looking forward to the draft since your team will own two lottery picks.
With its first pick, the team could select Thomas Robinson to fill the power forward spot. The National Player of the Year runner-up is truly a double-double machine.
And with the other pick, New Orleans could take a guard like Austin Rivers to replace Gordon, who might leave this summer via free agency
