It is officially draft day for the New Orleans Hornets and the open thread has arrived. After an unusually stressful day of Chris Paul trade speculation fueled by a long distance interview and a statement from current owner George Shinn, Hornets fans everywhere are probably ready for some potential good news.
Television coverage for the event begins on ESPN at 6PM Central time. If the Hornets stand pat and pick 11th, the decision should be announced around 7:20 in the evening.
Ryan told you what to expect, but there’s more to talk about. What is your dream scenario? Who do you really not want to see taken? Which player is a steal in the second round?
If this awesome thread wasn’t enough to get you excited, Hornets247 is proud to bring you live coverage from the Alario Center on draft night, where Monty Williams, Jeff Bower, and other Hornets personnel will be gathered to make their decision. Coach and GM both are expected to address the media, answer questions and talk about the pick. I’ll be right there to keep you posted with live, breaking information starting at 5:00 and continuing all the way through
In the meantime though, let’s talk draft.
Realistically the Hornets won’t be able to move to up grab DeMarcus Cousins, and he doesn’t really the mold of the players the Hornets tend to pick. Still though I think the guy is going to be pretty damn good right away. As of now he’s slotted as number three in my Rookie of the Year Award rankings (which were just made in my head), trailing Blake Griffin and John Wall.
Potential draft day trades are always fun, and as Ryan noted, moving Darren Collison to Indiana has been discussed quite a bit lately. What would a fair price be? Can I pretend that the Pacers are going to trade Danny Granger to the Hornets because in the past 24 hours they haven’t flat out denied it?
Some information that you might be interested in:
Historical 11th pick information
2000 Jerome Moiso
2001 Kendrick Brown
2002 Jared Jeffries
2003 Mikael Pietrus
2004 Andris Biedrins
2005 Fran Vazquez
2006 JJ Redick
2007 Acie Law
2008 Jared Bayless
2009 Terrence Williams
Hornets Draft History (thanks Wiki!)
| Draft |
Round |
Pick |
Player |
Nat |
Pos |
College/High School/Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 1 | 8 | Rex Chapman |  USA |
SG | Kentucky |
| 1988 | 2 | 34 | Tom Tolbert | USA |
PF/C | Arizona |
| 1988 | 3 | 58 | Jeff Moore | USA |
PF/C | Auburn |
| 1989 | 1 | 5 | J.R. Reid | USA |
PF | North Carolina |
| 1989 | 2 | 29 | Dyron Nix (traded to Indiana)[a] | USA |
SF/PF | Tennessee |
| 1990 | 1 | 5 | Kendall Gill | USA |
SG | Illinois |
| 1990 | 2 | 39 | Steve Scheffler (from Houston)[b] | USA |
PF/C | Purdue |
| 1991 | 1 | 1 | Larry Johnson | USA |
SF/PF | UNLV |
| 1991 | 2 | 28 | Kevin Lynch (from Denver)[c] | USA |
SF | Minnesota |
| 1992 | 1 | 2 | Alonzo Mourning | USA |
C | Georgetown |
| 1992 | 2 | 35 | Tony Bennett | USA |
PG | Wisconsin–Green Bay |
| 1993 | 1 | 17 | Greg Graham (traded to Philadelphia)[d] | USA |
SG | Indiana |
| 1993 | 1 | 20 | Scott Burrell (from San Antonio)[e] | USA |
SF | Connecticut |
| 1994 | 2 | 38 | Darrin Hancock | USA |
SG/SF | Kansas |
| 1995 | 1 | 22 | George Zidek |  CZE |
C | UCLA |
| 1996 | 1 | 13 | Kobe Bryant (traded to L.A. Lakers)[f] | USA |
SG | Lower Merion (H.S.) |
| 1996 | 1 | 16 | Tony Delk (from Miami)[g] | USA |
PG/SG | Kentucky |
| 1996 | 2 | 44 | Malik Rose | USA |
PF | Drexel |
| 1998 | 1 | 21 | Ricky Davis | USA |
SG/SF | Iowa |
| 1998 | 2 | 50 | Andrew Betts (traded to Indiana)[h] |  UK |
C | Long Beach State |
| 1999 | 1 | 3 | Baron Davis | USA |
PG | UCLA |
| 1999 | 2 | 43 | Lee Nailon | USA |
PF | Texas Christian |
| 2000 | 1 | 19 | Jamaal Magloire |  CAN |
PF/C | Kentucky |
| 2001 | 1 | 16 | Kirk Haston | USA |
PF | Indiana |
| 2003 | 1 | 18 | David West | USA |
PF | Xavier |
| 2003 | 2 | 48 | James Lang | USA |
PF/C | Central Park Christian (H.S.) |
| 2004 | 1 | 18 | J. R. Smith | USA |
SG | St. Benedict’s (H.S.) |
| 2004 | 2 | 44 | Tim Pickett | USA |
SG | Florida State |
| 2005 | 1 | 4 | Chris Paul | USA |
PG | Wake Forest |
| 2005 | 2 | 33 | Brandon Bass | USA |
PF | Louisiana State |
| 2006 | 1 | 12 | Hilton Armstrong | USA |
PF/C | Connecticut |
| 2006 | 1 | 15 | Cedric Simmons (from Milwaukee)[i] | USA |
PF | North Carolina State |
| 2006 | 2 | 43 | Marcus Vinicius |  BRA |
SF | Objetivo São Carlos (Brazil) |
| 2007 | 1 | 13 | Julian Wright | USA |
SF | Kansas |
| 2007 | 2 | 43 | Adam Haluska | USA |
SG | Iowa |
| 2008 | 1 | 27 | Darrell Arthur (traded to Portland)[j] | USA |
PF | Kansas |
| 2009 | 1 | 21 | Darren Collison | USA |
PG | UCLA |
————————————————————————————
Some interesting facts about the Hornets drafting past, and the number 11.
- The Hornets have been in the draft lottery nine times in franchise history (excluding 1988, when they were an expansion team and had yet to play a game). They have improved their win total in the following season six times (66.6%).
- Number Eleven possesses the qualities of intuition, patience, honesty, sensitivity, and spirituality, and is idealistic.
- Kentucky and UCLA have produced three first round selections for the Hornets, the most of any school (Rex Chapman, Tony Delk and Jamaal Magloire from UK, and George Zidek, Baron Davis and Darren Collison in from UCLA).
- In systems such as astrology and basic numerology, eleven is considered to be a Master Number (so watch out, punks).
- Reggie Miller, Robert Horry and Allan Houston were all picked 11th in the draft.
- 11 is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 (Thanks again Wiki)
Want to predict the first 11 pics?
Copy and paste this into the chat below. Then fill it in. Voila, your very own mock draft. Let’s see who has been paying the closest attention. This will also be filled out as the real draft progresses.This will also be filled out as the real draft progresses.
1. Washington Wizards – John Wall
2. Philadelphia 76ers- Evan Turner
3. New Jersey Nets- Derrick Favors
4. Minnesota Timberwolves- Wesley Johnson
5. Sacremento Kings- DeMarcus Cousins
6. Golden State Warriors-Ekpe Udoh
7. Detroit Pistons-Greg Monroe
8. LA Clippers- Al-Farouq Aminu
9. Utah Jazz- Gordon Hayward
10. Indiana Pacers-
11. New Orleans Hornets-Cole Aldrich
In July of last year Chris Paul gave an interview in which his words were twisted and sensationalized. Ryan ranted about the absurdity of it all, and I think that it deserves revisiting.
Are you excited? Almost everyone featured in those videos was drafted by the Hornets. Rasual is the exception.