NBA Draft Lottery 2012: Winners, Losers and Reaction

When the dust settled in New York on Wednesday night, it was the New Orleans Hornets emerging with the coveted No. 1 overall pick in June's 2012 NBA draft.

Meanwhile, the Charlotte Bobcats, the franchise with the best odds (25 percent) of winning the top selection, had to settle for No. 2.

Bottom line, some won and some lost. 

Here we take a look at some of the winners and losers from Wednesday night's memorable 2012 NBA draft lottery. 

Winner: New Orleans Hornets

Without a doubt the most obvious winner on lottery night was the New Orleans Hornets franchise.

The Hornets came in with the fourth-best shot at winning the No. 1 pick (13.7 percent), but leapfrogged three teams to snag the pick that will surely turn into Kentucky's Anthony Davis this June.

The last time the Hornets won the lottery was in 1991, when they went on to draft Larry Johnson first overall.

Winner: Tom Benson

New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson recently purchased the Hornets from the NBA and will now have the No. 1 overall pick this summer to begin the rebuilding process. 

Given that the Hornets were the worst team in the Western Conference last season (21-45), Benson should be ecstatic that he will soon have the help of Anthony Davis to turn things around in the Big Easy.

If New Orleans takes Davis No. 1 then they shouldn't have any trouble selling tickets next season and likely for years to come. 

Winner: Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors will move to San Francisco with the No. 7 pick in this year's draft in hand. The Warriors could have seen their precious lottery pick sent to Utah if it came No. 8 or later, but instead they will keep it and likely use it to add a key piece to Mark Jackson's roster.

The last time Golden State drafted No. 7 was 2009 when they took the sharpshooting Stephen Curry. 

Loser: Charlotte Bobcats

In other NBA drafts, picking No. 2 instead of No. 1 may not be the end of the world, but in the case of the Charlotte Bobcats in 2012, it just might signal the beginning of the apocalypse. 

In the 2012 NBA draft, there is Anthony Davis, and then there is everyone else. The Hornets are in the driver's seat to acquire the game-changing power forward, while the Bobcats will have to attempt to turn around their pitiful play with someone else.

Loser: Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan may have just missed out on his best opportunity to make up for past front office failures. 

The Charlotte Bobcats majority owner has been haunted by infamous lottery busts like Kwame Brown (No. 1 overall in 2001) and Adam Morrison (No. 3 overall in 2006), and will likely continue to face criticism now that Charlotte has missed out on Anthony Davis.

Loser: Brooklyn Nets

Although the future looks bright for the Nets, who are moving to Brooklyn to play in a new state-of-the-art arena, Wednesday night's lottery may have provided a dimmer.

The Nets failed to land a top-three pick and thus surrendered their draft pick to the Portland Trail Blazers thanks to the Gerald Wallace trade earlier this season. Portland will draft No. 6 overall while the Nets will have to wait until the late second-round to pick. 

Follow Patrick Clarke on Twitter for more on the upcoming 2012 NBA draft.