The Charlotte Bobcats, now Hornets, became one of the selection day success stories by virtue of the Cleveland Cavaliers leapfrogging into the top spot. Once Cleveland vacated it’s original draft slot of ninth overall to claim top pick in the draft it forced the Detroit Pistons (and all others) to slide one spot back. Once Detroit left the top eight it’s pick was automatically forfeited to the Hornets to complete the now seemingly ancient and equally meaningless trade / salary dump of Ben Gordon.

The Bobcats are now positioned as the only playoff team to hold a lottery pick which in itself is an opportunity that must be capitalized on. Success is brewing in Charlotte as Kemba Walker has emerged as a star in the wings and Al Jefferson showed his resilience and consistency in his first year playing under owner Michael Jordan.

The Hornets are in the midst of a rebranding as they have changed their franchise name back to the once beloved Hornets in hopes of reconnecting with a passionate community of hoops fans. This draft pick will be of some importance as it marks the first under the new / old name and the incoming player will be responsible for marketing the brand for the Association and the community.

The Hornets appear to be in good shape moving forward; however, they will likely only get one more season of Big Al’s services at the current $13.5 million and after the 2014 season, Walker is in line for a substantial pay raise if they wish to keep him around as well. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist must play better if the Hornets are to seriously consider exercising the team option in 2015 for $6.33 million.

Even with these few uncertainties, the Hornets do have a substantial amount of salary-cap flexibility that resembles something in the neighborhood of $18 million per year moving forward. Now this amount of cash is enough to peak the interest of any top-tier free-agent, but is it enough to get a signature on a long term contract; that remains to be seen.

Jordan’s business relationship and sponsorship of Carmelo Anthony through Nike is well documented and perhaps that personal connection may be used to lure Carmelo out of New York. Certainly a player like Carmelo would go a long way in selling the Hornet’s brand of basketball in Charlotte and a trio of Walker, Jefferson and Anthony would certainly put the Hornets square in the playoff picture.

If the Hornets stand pat with their salary cap dollars and choose to simply fill out their roster with general castoffs from around the league in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle in back-to-back seasons then they best make this draft pick a good one.

Biggest Draft Day Need

The Hornets need not only a serviceable prospect here but also one that can help brand the new Hornets. With this in mind there is more pressure than ever on Jordan and general manager Rich Cho who is renown for his analytical approach to statistics and understanding the complexities of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement. Between the two of them they quite simply need to maximize their draft pick as this pick literally fell into their laps here.

With all this in mind the Hornets really should be looking for some perimeter help here. The most likely pick here that makes sense is Creighton’s Doug McDermott. McDermott is a flat out scorer who is more dynamic than just a shooter. The multifaceted offensive repertoire of McDermott should translate well into the NBA whereas a previous draft pick of Jordan who was also a prolific collegiate scorer by the name of Adam Morrison did not have such a rounded game.

There is a lot of hype right now on UCLA’s Zach Lavine; however, he might be too much of a project type player to weigh out the risk here. Granted the kid can jump out of the gym, but so can Toronto’s Terrence Ross and Ross was better in college than Lavine was. There is more to playing in the NBA than highlight dunks in pregame warmup. Many an impressive athlete has washed out of the Association without making an impact and Lavine has too many uncertainties to be a true consideration here.

Now there is reportedly interest on McDermott higher than the ninth overall pick, namely from Boston and possibly from Los Angeles as well. If this is actually the case and not a smokescreen then it is possible that either Julius Randle, Dante Exum or Noah Vonleh. If any of these three remain then the Hornets will have lucked out once again in this draft.