Franchise History - Draft Set To Kick Off Nba Offseason

The annual NBA Draft, the unofficial kickoff to the offseason, takes place Thursday at the Prudential Center in Newark.

The event has shifted across the Hudson River for the second straight year due to summer renovations taking place at historic Madison Square Garden, and this marks just the third time that the selection process is being held in The Garden State.

The first was the 1996 draft from East Rutherford, which saw the Philadelphia 76ers select Georgetown's Allen Iverson with the number one pick. Future All- Stars Ray Allen (fifth), Kobe Bryant (13th), Peja Stojakovic (14th), Steve Nash (15th), Jermaine O'Neal (17th), and Zydrunas Ilgauskas (20th) also were selected in that draft.

Last year's festivities at The Rock saw Cleveland in the top spot taking eventual Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving out of Duke.

Kentucky's Anthony Davis is the consensus top pick this time around and the New Orleans Hornets were this year's big winners at the Draft Lottery, having a 13.7 percent of landing the top spot and beating the odds. The team will pounce on Davis, the 6-foot-11 power forward with the 7-foot-5 wingspan, who figures to be a difference maker at the defensive end in the NBA from Day 1.

This will mark the second time in franchise history the Hornets will make the number one selection. In 1991, the then-Charlotte Hornets used the top overall choice to select UNLV's Larry Johnson, who went on to capture 1991-92 Rookie of the Year honors.

A year later, the Hornets had the second overall pick and selected Georgetown's Alonzo Mourning. The only other time the franchise selected in the top three was 1999 when UCLA's Baron Davis was nabbed with the third overall pick.

The Hornets are also one of just two teams with a pair of picks in the lottery, owning the 10th overall selection in this year's draft as well. Portland is the other club which can help itself with two high selections, the sixth and 11th overall picks.

Cleveland (Nos. 4, 24), Golden State (Nos. 7, 30), Houston (Nos. 12, 16, 18) and Boston (Nos. 21, 22) also have multiple first round selections while the world champion Miami Heat will choose at No. 27.

The Cavs and the Rockets figure to be two teams to watch. A year after starting their post-LeBron James rebuilding project with Irving as well as promising forward Tristan Thompson, Cleveland should be able to get another significant piece in this year's draft.