2012 NBA Lottery Results: Teams in Best Position to Rebuild with Order Set

The order for the 2012 NBA draft has been determined, and now that we know exactly who is picking where, we have a much better idea of which of the league's also-rans in 2011-2012 will have the best shot at making a return to the postseason quickly.

New Orleans Hornets

One would think that after a season of epic futility, the lottery gods would have looked with pity upon the Charlotte Bobcats, "rewarding" their NBA-record .106 winning percentage with the first overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft.

However, that's not how things work in "The Association," as for the eighth consecutive season the team that had the worst record in the NBA did not receive the first overall pick.

That honor went to the New Orleans Hornets, who weren't a whole lot better than the Bobcats were last year, winning all of 21 games and scoring by far the fewest points in the Western Conference.

New team owner Tom Benson will now have a pair of top-10 picks with which to address those offensive deficiencies, and landing the rights to select Kentucky forward Anthony Davis takes a bit of the sting out of watching Chris Paul depart a season ago.

Portland Trail Blazers

In the NBA lottery, many times one team's loss is another team's gain, and that was the case with the Portland Trail Blazers this season.

When the Brooklyn Nets failed to net a top-three pick in the 2012 draft, their first-rounder became the property of the Trail Blazers as part of the Gerald Wallace trade, leaving Portland with two selections in the top 11 picks.

Granted, there's still a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the team's rebuilding process, at least until a new general manager is brought on board, as it's unknown whether that new GM might try to package the pair of picks in an attempt to move into the top five.

What is known is that the Trail Blazers now have four picks in this year's draft in addition to a fair amount of cap space, which should help the club wriggle out from the mess left over by the balky knees of Brandon Roy and Greg Oden.

Now if they can just hit on those picks instead of using them on the likes of, well, Brandon Roy and Greg Oden.

2012 NBA Lottery Order

1. New Orleans Hornets

2. Charlotte Bobcats

3. Washington Wizards

4. Cleveland Cavaliers

5. Sacramento Kings

6. Portland Trail Blazers (from Brooklyn Nets)

7. Golden State Warriors

8. Toronto Raptors

9. Detroit Pistons

10. New Orleans Hornets (from Minnesota Timberwolves via Los Angeles Clippers)

11. Portland Trail Blazers

12. Milwaukee Bucks

13. Phoenix Suns

14. Houston Rockets

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