New Orleans Hornets just got good; real good!

New Orleans Hornets make Anthony Davis the first pick in the NBA draft

Published: Thursday, June 28, 2012

By Jimmy Smith, The Times-Picayune The Times-Picayune

The New Orleans Hornets ended one month of artificial suspense Thursday night, selecting University of Kentucky power forward Anthony Davis with the first overall pick in the NBA draft, a selection the team hopes results in a sustained turnaround of its on-court fortunes.

NBA Commissioner David Stern, left, poses with the No. 1 overall draft pick Anthony Davis, of Kentucky, who was selected by the New Orleans Hornets in the NBA basketball draft, Thursday, June, 28, 2012, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Davis, 6 feet 10, 220 pounds, was the consensus college player of the year last season as a freshman while leading the Wildcats to the NCAA Championship in the Final Four played at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, a building that stands adjacent to his new professional home, New Orleans Arena.
NBA rules prohibited the Hornets from publicly stating their intentions to draft Davis prior to Thursday night's ESPN national cablecast and the made-for-television announcement by Commissioner David Stern.
But since the Hornets won the NBA Lottery on May 29, there was no doubt that Davis, 19, would be the first overall choice.
Davis visited just one team – the Hornets – on June 19, a trip that allowed Davis to acquaint himself with the team's Alario Center practice facility, as well as meet new owner Tom Benson, while getting the opportunity to dine at some of the city's noted restaurants.
"We're thrilled to welcome Anthony to the Hornets family," General Manager Dell Demps said in a release issued by the team. "Anthony is an incredible person and very talented basketball player. We look forward to him being a part of the sustained success of our franchise on and off the court going forward."
Said Coach Monty Williams: "We have added an incredibly talented, athletic big man with great length who is also a proven winner. In getting to know him, he's also a high-character kid and someone I look forward to help develop further."
"The first thing I said was if I get drafted here, it would be great to win another championship in New Orleans," Davis said during his visit last week. "Great city. If I get drafted (here), it would be awesome."
Davis did not work out for the Hornets, or any other NBA team in the weeks leading up to the draft.
In his one season at Kentucky, Davis averaged 14.2 points per game and 10.4 rebounds, while leading the nation in blocked shots, averaging 4.7 per game. A one-time, 6-3 point guard who went through a dramatic growth spurt before being recruited at Kentucky, Davis can handle the ball as well. Davis shot 62 percent from the field last season.
Virtually every scouting service has rated Davis as the only "can't miss" prospect in Thursday night's draft.
NBA Director of Scouting Ryan Blake said Davis' skill set measurables were unlike any other draft prospect in the last decade.
"His numbers are off our charts," Blake said.

CHRIS GRANGER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Donna Hilliard and Cheryl Varnado, bottom front, help lead the stands in cheering and yelling as the New Orleans Hornets select Anthony Davis as the first pick of the draft on Thursday, June 28, 2012. Fans gathered at the New Orleans Arena for the announcement.

This is the second time in Hornets' team history that they've had the No. 1 overall draft choice. The first was in 1991 when the team, then located in Charlotte, drafted Larry Johnson, a power forward from Nevada-Las Vegas.
Under terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, Davis will earn a base salary this season of $4,286,900 in his rookie season. That salary escalates to $4,479,800 in his second season and $4,672,700 in his third, which is at the team's option. Because of Davis's placement in the draft as the first overall pick, however, he could earn up to 20 percent more each season than the base salary contained in the rookie scale of the CBA.
 This week, to protect his financial rights, Davis and his family took steps to trademark references to "unibrow," a sobriquet by which Davis has become known because of the lack of a gap between his eyebrows.
Asked during the ESPN draft telecast about the move and what it might mean monetarily, Davis told an interviewer: "Who doesn't like money?"
As Stern announced the Hornets' pick, three minutes into the five minutes each team is allotted to make a decision in the first round, Davis, wearing a gray suit and a Kentucky blue-and-white striped dress shirt, hugged his mother and father, as well as his college coach, John Calipari, before making his way to the stage to shake Stern's hand and pose with the one-time Hornets' owner.
"I just want to come in and do the best I can," Davis told a television interviewer. "I know Coach (Monty) Williams is a great coach and he's got the best intentions for me. So when I go down there, I'm going to do whatever he wants me to do and try to be a team leader."
Asked how his shot-blocking ability might translate into the NBA, Davis said, "It's going to be very difficult. Guys are very crafty and use a lot of ball fakes. They're professionals and they do this for a living. So I'll just try to get used to what a guy's tendencies are, and try to block them then."