The NBA draft lottery was held Tuesday night, and now it's time for the
intrigue to begin! Milwaukee took the first pick with less than a 7%
chance. It's not at all clear what they want to do yet, but they made it clear
they'll consider dealing the pick if the deal makes sense.
| 1 | Milwaukee |
| 2 | Atlanta |
| 3 | Portland |
| 4 | New Orleans |
| 5 | Charlotte |
| 6 | Utah |
| 7 | Toronto |
| 8 | New York |
| 9 | Golden State |
| 10 | L.A. Lakers |
| 11 | Orlando |
| 12 | LA Clippers |
| 13 | Charlotte |
| 14 | Minnesota |
Looking down, there's no point in trading with Atlanta, unless the Hawks
offer the sun and the moon. So who is the likeliest choice to swap? Well, how
about Charlotte? The Bobcats could use two solid players, and they'd get
them with two lottery picks, but what if they could pair, say, Marvin Williams
and Emeka Okafor for the next decade or so? That's a powerful temptation
for both teams. The Bucks could pick up, say, Channing Frye and Raymond Felton,
and that's a pretty solid draft.
At the worst, for Charlotte barring a trade, guys like Jarrett Jack and Ike
Diogu should still be around. They're not necessarily All-Stars, but add
them into a young nucleus, coalescing around Okafor, and things are looking up.
For Chris Paul, odds are he'll get picked by Atlanta, unless they like Deron
Williams better. If so, he'll surely end up in New Orleans, a carnival
city with a clownish owner.