Hornets Extra: A history of Charlotte's NBA draft picks in the NBA Draft

In 2 days from now, the NBA Draft will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and the draft will have a special significance for the Charlotte Hornets: It will be their first draft appearance in 13 years, as the team continues its transition from the Bobcats back to the Hornets moniker, which became official last month.

Since 1988, Charlotte's NBA teams have participated in the NBA Draft(except the 1997 and 2010 Drafts), and some of the players turned out to be strong players for the original Hornets franchise, and during the then-Bobcats era from 2004-2014, while others, well, let's just not get into this discussion, okay.  The Hornets come into the draft with the 9th and 24th picks in the first round, and the 45th pick in the second round, and we got the 9th pick from the Detroit Pistons back during the Draft Lottery on May 20th, the same day the "Hornets" name officially returned home to Charlotte, and by looking at some of the different mock drafts I've been checking out, the consensus of them have Charlotte taking Doug McDermott out of Creighton at number 9, and P.J. Hairston from the NBA Development League by way of the University of North Carolina at 24, while others have Charlotte taking Nik Stauskas from the University of Michigan, and many believe that some of the mock drafts could possibly hold up come draft night, but it's up to the general managers to decide which player could best fit the franchise.

And for us fans here in Charlotte, it's up to Michael Jordan, General Manager Rich Cho, and head coach Steve Clifford to look for a player that can take the Hornets into the next chapter in their history, after the then-Bobcats coming off a successful 2013-14 season that saw them finish the campaign with a 44-38 record, before being swept in 4 straight games by the Miami Heat in the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs.

Back to the story about the history of the Hornets/Bobcats picks in the NBA Draft.  The draft has produced a lot of top talent for the original Hornets franchise(1988-2002), and the Bobcats era from 2004-2014, and with the draft coming up in 2 days, this give us time to do a refresher on all of the draft picks that Charlotte's NBA teams have had in the NBA Draft dating back to the original Hornets first year in 1988.

CHARLOTTE HORNETS DRAFT HISTORY(1988-2002)

1988 NBA Draft

First Round: Rex Chapman(8th overall pick, University of Kentucky)
Second Round: Tom Tolbert(34th overall pick, Arizona)
Third Round: Jeff Moore(58th overall, Auburn; Never played in NBA)

1989 NBA Draft

First Round: J.R. Reid(5th overall pick, University of North Carolina)
Second Round: Dyron Nix(29th overall pick, University of Tennessee)

1990 NBA Draft

First Round: Kendall Gill(5th overall pick, University of Illinois)
Second Round: Steve Scheffler(39th overall pick, Purdue University)

1991 NBA Draft

First Round: Larry Johnson(1st overall pick, UNLV; Rookie of the Year in 1991-92)
Second Round: Kevin Lynch(28th overall pick, Minnesota; Hornets acquired the selection from Denver)

1992 NBA Draft

First Round: Alonzo Mourning(2nd overall pick, Georgetown University)
Second Round: Tony Bennett(35th overall pick, Wisconsin-Green Bay; now head coach at the University of Virginia)

1993 NBA Draft

First Round: Greg Graham(17th overall pick, Indiana University); Scott Burrell(20th overall pick, UCONN)

1994 NBA Draft

Second Round: Darrin Hancock(38th overall pick, Kansas)

1995 NBA Draft

First Round: George Zidek(22nd overall pick, UCLA)

1996 NBA Draft

First Round: Kobe Bryant(13th overall pick, Lower Merion HS; traded to L.A. Lakers for Vlade Divac); Tony Delk(16th overall pick, University of Kentucky)
Second Round: Malik Rose(44th overall pick, Drexel University)

1997 NBA Draft: No picks

1998 NBA Draft

First Round: Ricky Davis(21st overall pick, Iowa)
Second Round: Andrew Betts, Long Beach State; Never played a game in the NBA)

1999 NBA Draft

First Round: Baron Davis(3rd overall pick, UCLA)
Second Round: Lee Nailon(43rd overall pick, TCU)

2000 NBA Draft

First Round: Jamaal Magloire(19th overall pick, University of Kentucky)

2001 NBA Draft

First Round: Kirk Haston(16th overall pick, Indiana University)

CHARLOTTE BOBCATS DRAFT HISTORY(2004-2014; BOLD denotes player is still with franchise)

2004 NBA Draft

First Round: Emeka Okafor(2nd overall pick, UCONN, 2004-05 Rookie of the Year)

Second Round: Bernard Robinson(46th overall pick, Michigan)

2005 NBA Draft

First Round: Raymond Felton(5th overall selection, University of North Carolina); Sean May(13th overall selection, University of North Carolina)

2006 NBA Draft

First Round: Adam Morrison(3rd overall selection, Gonzaga University)

Second Round: Ryan Hollins(50th overall selection, UCLA)

2007 NBA Draft

First Round: Brandan Wright(8th overall selection, University of North Carolina; Traded to Golden State in exchange for Jason Richardson); Jared Dudley(22nd overall selection, Boston College)

2008 NBA Draft

First Round: D.J. Augustin(8th overall selection, Texas); Alexis Ajinca(20th overall selection, France)
Second Round: Kyle Weaver(38th overall selection, Washington State)

2009 NBA Draft

First Round: GERALD HENDERSON(12th overall selection, Duke University)
Second Round: Derrick Brown(40th overall selection, Xavier University); Robert Vaden(54th overall selection, UAB; Never played in the regular season and playoffs)

2010 NBA Draft: No picks

2011 NBA Draft

First Round:BISMACK BIYOMBO(acquired from Sacramento with 7th overall pick, Congo); KEMBA WALKER(9th overall selection, UCONN); Tobias Harris(19th overall selection, Tennessee; traded to Milwaukee
Second Round: Jeremy Tyler(39th overall selection, Tokyo Apache; rights traded to Golden State)

2012 NBA Draft

First Round: MICHAEL KIDD-GILCHRIST(2nd overall selection, University of Kentucky)
Second Round: JEFFERY TAYLOR(31st overall selection, Vanderbilt)

2013 NBA Draft

First Round: CODY ZELLER(4th overall selection, University of North Carolina; made the NBA All-Rookie third team in 2013-14 season)