New Orleans Hornets Win Lottery: Let the Conspiracy Theories Begin

Get out your tin foil hat Mr. Stone and see if you can make a screen play for this one. A franchise that is owned by the NBA gets the first pick in the draft, which gives that franchise the chance to pick one of the most transcendent big men to come out of the NCAA in years.

And, to get that pick, the team had to win a lottery that it had just over a 13% chance of winning. Too implausible? Perhaps until Wednesday night when the NBA-owned New Orleans Hornets did just that. The Hornets were predicted to pick fourth, but moved up to first with the "random lottery".

The NBA has sold the team to Tom Benson, owner of the Saints, but he has not yet taken full ownership or control of the team. Could the team have promised Mr. Benson the number one pick in exchange for his purchase of the struggling Hornets and promise to keep the team in New Orleans—a city he has tried to evacuate with his Saints.

We don't know and can't know. The only person who knows is the guy who froze the envelope in the 1985 draft lottery that gave the first pick to the New York Knicks so they could select another can't-miss-big-man: Patrick Ewing.

Oh, and that dog from the Bush's Baked Beans commercial might know something.

None of this can be confirmed of-course, which is why it is only a conspiracy. But lack of proof won't stop disappointed Bobcat fans from crying foul. Bobcat fans will almost certainly point to the NBA's effort to stop the trade of the Hornets top star to the LA Lakers earlier this season.

But, if the Bobcats want to turn things around they can't start by blaming the NBA. It was not a conspiracy that gave them the worst winning percentage in NBA history. This is a deep draft and the Bobcats have plenty of good players to choose from. But, given their lack of stellar moves in past drafts, they probably needed a sure thing like Anthony Davis to fall into their lap.

That said, the only conspiracy that Bobcat fans need to be worried about is the one that allows MJ to make personnel decisions.