Odds & Ends: Hornets, Jazz, Mavs, Jeff Van Gundy

The NBA draft lottery brought good fortune to the Hornets organization, robbed the Bobcats of a chance to quickly advance in the rebuilding process and saw teams like the Nets and the Jazz miss out on securing lottery picks. The Cavs will have to use the fourth pick in the draft to build around Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson and the Warriors should simply be happy they were able to keep their spot at seventh. Beyond the Hornets, count the Trail Blazers as the second biggest winner Wednesday night as Portland will make two selections among the first 11 picks.

As the talking heads put together their latest mock drafts, let's take a look around the NBA to catch up on the the news and rumors making headlines as Hurricanes and Hand Grenades flow freely on Bourbon St…

• Winning the NBA lottery and having the 10th pick in the draft could quickly accelerate the Hornets' resurgence, writes Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune.
• Kurt Kragthorpe of The Salt Lake City Tribune says the Jazz's development will be hurt by not having another lottery pick to add to the roster this offseason.
• Deron Williams is not enough for the Mavs as a successful team needs to have three stars to make a championship run, opines Kevin Sherrington of The Dallas Morning News.
• Sherrington also says that Mavs fans need to forget the idea of the team acquiring Dwight Howard via trade as Dallas does not have enough young pieces to complete the deal.
• Count Jeff Van Gundy among those who believe the Bulls would have won a title this season if the team didn't lose Derrick Rose to injury earlier this spring, writes Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com.
• Colin Stephenson of The Star-Ledger says Nets general manager Billy King is being quiet about the team's pursuit of Williams and Howard. 
• Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski considers the possibility David Stern had a hand in ensuring the Hornets walked away with the top pick in the draft.

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