The Charlotte Hornets plan to select the best play available in the draft as they don't view themselves as being in a position to draft based on positional need.

“We have some nice pieces that we like, but to compete in this league at a high level, our talent level isn’t where we need it to be,” Kupchak said in a Friday interview with The Observer. “I don’t feel we have the luxury of being able to, at this point, pick-and-choose the position” of greatest need.

The Hornets will participate in the lottery but are most likely to select eighth or ninth.

The Hornets have never moved up in the lottery since joining the NBA as an expansion team in 2004. Before the original Hornets relocated to New Orleans, they moved up in 1991 (Larry Johnson), 1992 (Alonzo Mourning) and 1999 (Baron Davis).