NBA Draft 2012: Teams That Desperately Need Luck in Lottery

Every single year, teams wait with bated breath as the ping pong balls bounce during the draft lottery. 2012 is going to be no different and a number of franchises have a lot riding on their ability to get lucky and win a coveted high pick in the draft.

Let’s take a look at which organizations need their number to come up most desperately.

Charlotte Bobcats

No surprises here. The Bobcats have won just a paltry seven games this season with three remaining. No other squad even came close to the ineptitude displayed by Michael Jordan’s franchise in 2011-12.

If Charlotte wants to avoid rumors about being sold, moved to another city or even contracted, it needs to win the lottery and get a surefire superstar in Anthony Davis.

The culture around the team needs to be changed, and adding someone who just led his team to a national championship is the perfect way to accomplish that.

New Jersey Nets

The Nets are preparing to pack up and move to Brooklyn, but it’s likely they’ll be severely undermanned upon arrival.

Deron Williams becomes a free agent at the end of this season and newly acquired forward Gerald Wallace has yet to make a decision on his player option.

Even worse is that the team traded a lottery pick to Portland in exchange for Wallace’s services.

Fortunately, that selection is top-three protected and could come back to NJ if it gets lucky. It would certainly go a long way towards convincing D-Will and Wallace to stick around.

New Orleans Hornets

The Hornets finally have a new owner and can starting moving past being a pitiful franchise that could not retain its best players to one of respectability.

There is no better way to fast track that goal than getting some lottery luck and winding up near the top.

If it can get a few lucky bounces this offseason, New Orleans will be a playoff contender much sooner than expected.