Lottery primer
Having done this for five years now, I'm convinced that the No. 1 thing we overcover as NBA writers is summer league and the No. 1 thing we undercover is the draft lottery, which can reverse a team's fortunes overnight.
Want proof? Just look at what Chicago did this season after beating long odds to win the lottery last year and draft Derrick Rose with the top pick.
The lottery makes its annual return Tuesday night, with Sacramento, Washington and the L.A. Clippers having the best chances of landing the No. 1 overall pick and winning the Blake Griffin sweepstakes.
The Jazz don't have a lottery pick, but no doubt will be interested in the happenings in Secaucus, N.J. For starters, the Jazz have to hope the Knicks (with a 2.8 percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick) don't move up from No. 8.
The last thing Utah wants to see is the Knicks draft Griffin or Ricky Rubio or Hasheem Thabeet - - anybody who could make an immediate impact and improve their roster next season, when the Jazz are due the Knicks' unprotected pick in 2010.
Should the pingpong balls bounce the wrong way tonight, the Jazz all of a sudden might have a penny stock in that Knicks' pick, which also is perhaps their best trade chip for this summer.
The Jazz also absolutely, positively don't want to see Northwest Division up-and-comer Oklahoma City win the lottery. The Thunder have an 11.9 percent chance of doing so, give or take how much the NBA wants Griffin to stay at home.
Oklahoma City went 23-59 last season, but has the potential to make the leap to contender status in a few short seasons. Just imagine adding Griffin to a roster with Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook.
The Thunder have salary-cap space, hold a total of four first-round picks the next two seasons, found the right coach in Scott Brooks and made three terrific in-season acquisitions in Nenad Krstic, Thabo Sefolosha and Shaun Livingston.
As long as he is considering opting out of his contract, Carlos Boozer also doesn't want to see either Oklahoma City or Memphis win the lottery and the rights to Griffin, who would play the same position as Boozer at power forward.
There are only three teams with the potential cap space to sign Boozer outright - - Detroit, Memphis and Oklahoma City - - and the Thunder or Grizzlies might drop out of the running depending on the lottery results.
The Jazz also probably would rather not have Minnesota win, though the Timberwolves have less need for Griffin with a frontcourt of Al Jefferson and Kevin Love. But Brandon Jennings, Tyreke Evans or James Harden could be key additions with a high pick.
Best-case lottery scenario for Jazz: 1. Washington, 2. Toronto, 3. Sacramento.
Worst-case lottery scenario for Jazz: 1. New York, 2. Oklahoma City, 3. Minnesota.
* * *
How I wish I could have been in Washington tonight to watch Ross Detwiler pitch for the Nationals against Ross Ohlendorf of the Pirates. It was the first matchup between two starters named Ross in MLB history. Ohlendorf earned the win in Pittsburgh's 12-7 victory.
--Ross Siler
Want proof? Just look at what Chicago did this season after beating long odds to win the lottery last year and draft Derrick Rose with the top pick.
The lottery makes its annual return Tuesday night, with Sacramento, Washington and the L.A. Clippers having the best chances of landing the No. 1 overall pick and winning the Blake Griffin sweepstakes.
The Jazz don't have a lottery pick, but no doubt will be interested in the happenings in Secaucus, N.J. For starters, the Jazz have to hope the Knicks (with a 2.8 percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick) don't move up from No. 8.
The last thing Utah wants to see is the Knicks draft Griffin or Ricky Rubio or Hasheem Thabeet - - anybody who could make an immediate impact and improve their roster next season, when the Jazz are due the Knicks' unprotected pick in 2010.
Should the pingpong balls bounce the wrong way tonight, the Jazz all of a sudden might have a penny stock in that Knicks' pick, which also is perhaps their best trade chip for this summer.
The Jazz also absolutely, positively don't want to see Northwest Division up-and-comer Oklahoma City win the lottery. The Thunder have an 11.9 percent chance of doing so, give or take how much the NBA wants Griffin to stay at home.
Oklahoma City went 23-59 last season, but has the potential to make the leap to contender status in a few short seasons. Just imagine adding Griffin to a roster with Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook.
The Thunder have salary-cap space, hold a total of four first-round picks the next two seasons, found the right coach in Scott Brooks and made three terrific in-season acquisitions in Nenad Krstic, Thabo Sefolosha and Shaun Livingston.
As long as he is considering opting out of his contract, Carlos Boozer also doesn't want to see either Oklahoma City or Memphis win the lottery and the rights to Griffin, who would play the same position as Boozer at power forward.
There are only three teams with the potential cap space to sign Boozer outright - - Detroit, Memphis and Oklahoma City - - and the Thunder or Grizzlies might drop out of the running depending on the lottery results.
The Jazz also probably would rather not have Minnesota win, though the Timberwolves have less need for Griffin with a frontcourt of Al Jefferson and Kevin Love. But Brandon Jennings, Tyreke Evans or James Harden could be key additions with a high pick.
Best-case lottery scenario for Jazz: 1. Washington, 2. Toronto, 3. Sacramento.
Worst-case lottery scenario for Jazz: 1. New York, 2. Oklahoma City, 3. Minnesota.
* * *
How I wish I could have been in Washington tonight to watch Ross Detwiler pitch for the Nationals against Ross Ohlendorf of the Pirates. It was the first matchup between two starters named Ross in MLB history. Ohlendorf earned the win in Pittsburgh's 12-7 victory.
--Ross Siler
9:37 PM
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2 Comments:
I'd guess that the disruption of 1. Toronto (they'd have to think about moving Bosh) 2. Wizards
3. Milwaukie (or some other Eastern non-Knicks team) might be even better as best-case lottery scenario for Jazz.
I live in DC and as great as Ross v. Ross sounds, watching just about anyone pitch for the nationals is painful.
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