Hornets’ GM is happy with team’s chances

Hornets general manager Jeff Bower likes his team's chances in tonight's NBA Draft Lottery.

Draft workouts

The Hornets on Wednesday are scheduled to begin private workouts of draft-eligible players at the team’s practice facility at Southern Nazarene.

Workouts are closed to the public and media, and the names of the first group of players are not yet known. Hornets officials did say, however, that the team is bringing in four swingmen on Wednesday.

Even though the Hornets have only a 2.54-percent chance of moving into one of the top three spots in next month's NBA Draft.

Even though this year's crop of incoming talent is widely viewed as second rate when compared to years past. And even despite being fully aware that the best talent in this year's top-heavy draft will be long gone if the Hornets don't move into the top three.

The Hornets have just seven in 1,000 chances, or the 12th best shot out of 14 non-playoff teams, to land the top pick when the selection order for the draft is unveiled tonight. With 250 chances, the Portland Trail Blazers have the best shot at landing the No. 1 overall pick, followed by the New York Knicks and Charlotte Bobcats.

If that form holds tonight, the Hornets would select at No. 12. They also already have the 15th selection acquired from the Milwaukee Bucks.

"We're really comfortable right now at 12 and 15, Bower said. "We think we're going to get solid players in that range.

"We look at it as we can only help ourselves. We can only move into that one, two, three spot. So I go into it pretty comfortable, pretty confident in what our selections can be.

The worst-case scenario for the Hornets tonight is falling to 13th or 14th if either or both Philadelphia or Utah moves into the top three spots.

Either way, the cream of the crop is expected to be only six deep. Most prognostications list the six best players in the draft as Gonzaga's Adam Morrison, Texas' LaMarcus Aldridge, LSU's Tyrus Thomas, Italy's Andrea Bargnani, Washington's Brandon Roy and UConn's Rudy Gay.

A mock draft on NBADraft.net has the Hornets selecting Patrick O'Bryant, a 7-foot center from Bradley, with their 12th pick and Hilton Armstrong, a 6-11 center from UConn, with their 15th selection.

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