Oct 29, 2021; Miami, Florida, USA; A detailed view of the logos on the short of Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (2) during the first half against the Miami Heat at FTX Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images

Charlotte Hornets named among biggest losers after wild NBA Draft Lottery

Originally posted on Charlotte Hornets on SI
By Zach Roberts | Last updated May 13, 2025 1:03 PM ET

The Charlotte Hornets lost out on the lottery last night, which is a sentence that could probably be recycled yearly. It's certainly been said for a long time, as the Hornets haven't picked first in over three decades. That trend continued last night despite a momentary glimmer of hope.

The Hornets avoided the worst-case scenario of falling out of the top four. The Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards didn't, as they fell as far as they possibly could. The Hornets stayed in the top four, but they got a bad twist of luck from there, finishing fourth despite having much better odds than everyone else in the top four.

That has Charlotte as one of the biggest losers of the NBA lottery. Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey lumped them in with the rest of the "true tankers" (although that may not even be a 100% accurate descriptor of the 2024-25 Hornets) and said they were among those who lost out big time.

"The 17-65 Utah Jazz, 18-64 Washington Wizards and 19-63 Charlotte Hornets each entered the lottery with a 14 percent chance to secure the top pick," Bailey said. "Everyone else had a statistically worse shot. And all of the above wound up outside the top three. Flagg is obviously off the table for them. Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper might be, too."

He called those three prospects closer to a sure thing than most, and added that they now have to look for "cornerstone-level talents" in different places where they are much harder to find. Utah got it the worst, going from the worst record to the worst possible landing spot for them.

Washington also fell as far as they could, but it can be argued that the Hornets got the worst situation given how it all went down. They avoided that initial letdown, moving into the top four. That's where they had a 14% chance at it, while Philadelphia had 10.5%, San Antonio had 6%, and Dallas had an incomprehensible 1.8% chance.

Simple probability made it highly unlikely that the Hornets got the very last pick in that foursome, but that's exactly what happened. They were teased by the NBA and then hung out to dry, also getting a draft pick worse than their record indicated.