"Unable to land a player that could help them immediately, the New Orleans Hornets sold the draft rights of Kentucky center Josh Harrellson to the New York Knicks in Thursday night's NBA draft.

The Hornets had the 45th pick in the second round. It was the first time they did not have a first-round selection since 2002.

In exchange for Harrellson's draft rights, the Hornets received about $1 million from the Knicks, according to a league source.

"We didn't want to pick someone just to be picking,'' Hornets General Manager Dell Demps said. "The money that we did acquire will be used to make the team better.''

Demps tried to pursue a trade to move up into the first round, but couldn't consummate a deal.

"We tried some different avenues, but we came up short,'' Demps said.

Before the draft, Demps had targeted five prospects that he hoped would be on the board when they selected. But all of the five had been selected before the Hornets picked.

"In the second round, there were a number of guys we targeted, and when we could not get those guys we decided to trade the pick," Demps said. "We do have roster spots available ... we had a group of guys we were hoping would be there.""