NBA Lottery 2012 Start Time: Juicy Stories to Follow in Tonight's Draft Lottery

The highly anticipated 2012 NBA draft lottery will begin at 8:00 p.m. ET, and can be viewed on ESPN as the event is being broadcast from the ABC/Disney Time Square Studios in New York City (via NBA.com)

The Charlotte Bobcats just completed the worst season in NBA history. They can definitely use a player with the potential of dramatically improving their team. Kentucky's Anthony Davis is that player.

But will they get that opportunity? Which teams will improve themselves the most as a result of the lottery?  Which players do we feel will help teams the most immediately, and which won't? Check our our slideshow and find out!

Will the Bobcats Get Lucky?

As we mentioned, the Charlotte Bobcats desperately need a player that can turn around the franchise. Anthony Davis is that player. He's one of the few players in recent memory who can dominate a game without having a good offensive game, as he did in Kentucky's national championship victory.

But just because they had the worst season in NBA history doesn't give the Bobcats the automatic first pick. The lottery only provides them with a 25 percent chance of getting that first pick. Hardly fair you'd say and you would be correct. The second worst team, Washington, has a 19.9 percent chance of getting the first pick.

The last time the worst team drafted first was in 2004, when Orlando drafted Dwight Howard. So the first big story is which lucky team gets to pick Anthony Davis.

Andre Drummond: Is He Dwight Howard or Kwame Brown?

We, at NetScouts Basketball, have seen Andre Drummond extensively throughout his prep school career as well as last season at UConn.

Drummond is one of the most athletic big men we've ever seen. He was the fastest player on UConn's roster this past season, even faster than their point guards. He has a very strong body and is a freak athlete so he's at the top of many teams lists, after Davis.

The big question with Drummond is whether he can develop his basketball skills as well as maintain focus over the course of the long NBA season.

So he's a big question mark for the future as the team that takes him will be looking 2-3 years into the future. We don't see him as another Thabeet but at this point it's questionable whether he can develop into a Dwight Howard type of player, which would be his upside.

Bradley Beal: Is He Ray Allen?

Many analysts and NBA scouts are looking at Bradley Beal as the next Ray Allen. They could be right but again they may be jumping to conclusions too quickly.

Beal just played one year at Florida, averaged 14.8 ppg and shot only 33.9 percent on three-pointers. We like him as a #9-13 pick but we're seeing him moving up the board very quickly. Some mock drafts have him at #2. We have a version that has him at #5 but that's based on where we think he'll be picked, not based on our scouting evaluation of him.

In our Mock Draft based on our opinions of the players, not based on team need, we have him ranked #13. It'll be interesting to see how early Beal gets picked.

Point Guards Are at a Premum: They'll Move Up the Board

Teams with a need for a point guard will likely pay a premium for them. Damian Lillard, Kendall Marshall and Marquis Teague are moving up the board, in most cases not because of their ability but because of the team's need.

Don't be surprised to see Lillard move up to whichever lottery team has the point guard need. And Marshall will be right behind him.

Will the Lottery Results Wind Up in Trades?

The team that gets the #1 pick in the lottery will take Anthony Davis, no question about it. They'll be no trades there.

But don't be surprised if the results of the lottery helps create several trades. Obviously there's no way to determine what they would be at this point, but watch out for some trades on draft day!