A Little Bit About the NBA Draft Lottery

There's something about the NBA Draft Lottery that I absolutely detest.

To fill everyone in, last night (May 18) was the annual NBA Draft Lottery, a system that determines where an NBA franchise will select their picks in the upcoming NBA Draft on June 24. The New Jersey Nets, a team that had one of the worst records in league history at 12-70, will not be selecting first overall, as many people would have imagined.

I am in no way a Nets fan. But I feel that if things were fair in this league that has fluctuated on the brink of complete and utter failure for decades now, the worst team with the worst record should have the first overall selection come draft day.

That to me seems like the most logical situation.

However for some reason, league officials feel the need to make the draft selection process more of a gambling game. The team with the worst record has the most STOCK in garnering the first selection, while the next five or so lowly teams in the league have a slightly lower chance at the first pick, but a chance nonetheless.

The Nets had a 25 percent chance of attaining that coveted pick, which would ultimately result in undoubtedly the best and most likely pick in the draft: Kentucky freshman John Wall, whom many experts say could easily be among the most elite point guards in the league within just a year's time. But how often have we seen in past years the team with the best shot at the first pick actually receive it?

This is all by chance, of course, so it's not like history (or anyone else) has it out for the team with the best chances. But again, we find that the Nets come away with the THIRD overall pick, not the first, which belongs to the Washington Wizards.

It seems to me that this whole thing should be automatic. The Nets (12-70) have the worst record, so they get the first pick. Done. The Timberwolves (15-67) have the second worst record. They get the second pick. Simple. Sacramento (25-57) get the third pick, and so on. It just makes sense. But instead, New Jersey gets third, Minnesota picks fourth and Sacramento fifth.

The one thing that keeps me somewhat at peace with this ordeal is the fact that the Nets at the very least have some bright spots: Brook Lopez, Devin Harris (for now), the third best player in the upcoming draft, a new billionaire owner who will probably do wonders for the organization (like maybe move them out of New Jersey to a bigger media outlet [Brooklyn]), and a shot at signing the best player in the game today (LeBron James). The Wizards have no bright spots; not even Gilbert Arenas, who can shoot the lights out, but can't stay out of trouble or away from injury for two consecutive games. The traded away two of their top players at mid-season in Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, and not even head coach Flip Saunders, despite his credible coaching resume, can't turn this team around.

But the Wizards weren't the worst team in basketball! Regardless of how hopeless they were, they didn't gain that first pick because they desperately needed it. They got lucky! Did anyone see the Wizards representative's face at the Lottery, and how shocked she was when they announced it? Because they as an ogranization didn't deserve it; the Nets did.

Now it appears John Wall will be a Wizard, and the Nets may have to settle for neither of the two best players in the draft bunch (unless the 76ers, the team with the second-overall selection, pass up on Evan Turner for Wesley Johnson or Derrick Favors).

As a Celtics fan, I obviously don't have any qualms with the way things turned out three years ago when the C's had the worst record in the NBA, but ended up with the fifth pick in the lottery gamble.

But that's easy for me to say now, because I know what has happened in those in between years. We traded for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, won a championship, and are currently up 2-0 on the Orlando Magic in the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals. But what about before all that, when we drew the fifth pick in the 2007 Draft? Greg Oden and Kevin Durant were the two best players in the nation, and one of them was supposed to be wearing Celtic green before that fateful lottery.

Like I said, we know now that things turned out perfectly for the Celtics, but we can't predict the same thing for the Nets, the Wizards or any other NBA team. All we know is that the Nets will be robbed of the best player this year, all because of this wacky system.

I'd love to see the draft lottery abolished completely in my lifetime, which I think will happen eventually. The more teams like the Celtics and Nets get gambled out of their rightful picks, the more criticism will surface about the system.

But the NBA Draft itself, as well as the NFL Draft, are two of my favorite non-championship sporting events, and I look forward to writing more about which athlete fits in where as the draft draws closer.

So for now: here's hoping for an NBA Draft revolution.