Charlotte Bobcats Hope For Lotto Luck in This Year's NBA Draft

With the NBA draft lottery just around the corner it's time to a peak at our beloved Charlotte Bobcats draft hopes.

The Bobcats have had some horrendous luck in the draft lottery in years past. The thought of being a pick away from having Dwight Howard and than the following year a pick away from Chris Paul still makes my gut wrench.

Instead of getting two superstars the Bobcats would end up with Emeka Okafor (instead of Howard) and Raymond Felton (instead of Paul) who have gone on to be solid starters for Charlotte.

Still, it's hard not to think about the what if's. What if the Orlando Magic would have selected Okafor instead of Howard. It may seem crazy now but at the time it was being debated.

The Cats will be crossing their fingers this time around hoping they can get some luck in the lottery to erase the memory of some bad picks in the past (Adam Morrison, Sean May, and soon to be Alexis Ajinca).

Here are some of the scenarios the Bobcats will be facing depending on where they end up drafting.

Top Five Pick

It would take a lot of luck for the Cats to snag a pick this high. But if somehow it does happen Larry Brown will be jumping for joy.

Chad Ford of ESPN has his top five players in this years draft as follows Blake Griffin, Ricky Rubio, Hasheem Thabeet, James Harden, and Jordan Hill.

Assuming they don't receive the number one pick and Blake Griffin is gone (he will be) look for the Bobcats to draft James Harden or Hasheem Thabeet.

Despite unimpressive tournament performances from them they both are too talented to pass up. Harden would provide a back up to Raja Bell and Thabeet could team up with Okafor to be a dynamic shot blocking duo.

Six Through Ten

Slipping into the top ten would give the Bobcats a chance at snagging a shooting guard to play behind the oft-injured Raja Bell.

Tyreke Evans looked like an absolute beast in Memphis' loss to the Missouri Tigers. DeMar DeRozan is another option at shooting guard that will more than likely be around in this range.

11 Through 14

The odds favor the Bobcats ending up in this range. As of now Gerald Henderson seems like he could be the likely pick here. He could provide some scoring off the bench and when Bell suffers one of his injuries Henderson could step in.

Charlotte has been known to draft guys that come from winning programs and guys who have been in school for more than one year. Although, they broke away from that trend last season by drafting Ajinca.

As we get closer to the ping pong balls bouncing around Bobcat fans can only hope that the team's lottery misfortunes end.