Charlotte Hornets don't move up in NBA Draft Lottery, will pick 11th next month

Miles Bridges couldn't deliver any extra the luck in the Charlotte Hornets' favor.

Unlike last year when they defied the odds and moved up in the order, the Hornets didn't climb at all in Tuesday night's NBA Draft Lottery. They drew the No. 11 selection, which is the very spot they had the best odds (11.5%) of finishing in. Detroit won the lottery, with Houston, Cleveland and Toronto rounding out the first four spots. 

Charlotte had a 1.8 percent chance of claiming the No. 1 overall selection and an 8.5 percent shot at leaping into the top four spots. They have three picks in the July 29 draft, capped by a pair of consecutive, late second-round picks -- both of which were acquired in trades. The Hornets hold the 56th and 57th selections, with the former coming via the LA Clippers and and the latter courtesy of Brooklyn.

Sitting just outside the top 10 should give GM Mitch Kupchak and the Hornets' front office a potential young asset, one with an opportunity to be a rotational player right away. Under Kupchak, the Hornets have appeared to hit on all three of team's first-round picks and two of them -- Bridges, who represented the team virtually Tuesday, and PJ Washington -- were drafted in the very same range the team will find itself in next month.

Washington was plucked off the board at No. 12 in 2019 and Bridges was reeled in as part of that 2018 draft-day trade with the Clippers for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was selected 11th. Suffice to say Kupchak & Co. would love nothing more than to hope they can continue the trend of hitting on their first-rounders, the latest of course being their prized rookie of the year LaMelo Ball.

Given their needs, potential targets could be an athletic big man or scoring wing. Duke forward Jalen Johnson and Kentucky forward/center Isaiah Jackson are among the names being thrown around the No. 11 position in some of the early mock drafts.