NBA Draft Lottery 2012: What's Next for the New Orleans Hornets?

Wednesday night, the NBA held its annual draft lottery to determine the pecking order for teams in the 2012 league-wide draft. Going into the night, the New Orleans Hornets held two guaranteed lottery selections which combined to them a 14.7 percent chance of gaining the No. 1 overall pick. 

And guess what—they got the top pick. They get Kentucky's Anthony Davis. It's not as if there is any other option. Davis is the obvious choice. 

He fits the Hornets' roster perfectly. Perhaps not in game one, but certainly by mid-season he will be starting at power forward alongside Emeka Okafor. Together the two should make for the best defensive backcourt in the Western Conference. 

Now the Hornets should have no problem bringing Eric Gordon back. Surely he will want to play with a 6'10" power forward who could easily become an All-Star caliber player—a guy who compares favorably to Marcus Camby and/or Tyson Chandler but with more offensive potential. 

The Hornets also have the No. 10 pick in this draft which they received from the Los Angeles Clippers in their trade of Chris Paul. They could easily use that pick to replace their former franchise player. Damian Lillard from Weber State is currently a hot name in the draft. 

He has pulled the now-common, from underrated to overrated label. As a result, he could easily be gone by the time the Hornets select at pick No. 10. 

If that is the case, the Hornets have options. For one, they could trade down and take Kendall Marshall in the middle of the first round. That's option No. 1 for Dell Demps. 

Option No. 2 is take the best player available. Who that will be is anything but a certainty at this point. 

Thankfully it is unlikely to be Thomas Robinson or Andre Drummond—two big guys I personally cannot stand. 

It is also unlikely to be Bradley Beal of Florida or Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Clearly getting an athletic wing or another quality backup big man would fit the Hornets well. That is if there is no point guard worth taking at No. 10 and a trade down is not an option. 

Follow @BRwillosgood