This is going to be brief, but I wasn’t surprised to see that the team with the worst record in the NBA didn’t win the lottery. However, despite the Nets not winning it, I think they’ll still be alright. It just means that between Wall and Turner, they pick whoever the Wizards don’t pick.
Wait… What about the Sixers? Don’t they decide the fate of the Nets’ pick since they’re second and all? It means draft the second best player, which would likely be whoever the Wizards don’t pick between John Wall and Evan Turner, right? Well, the problem is that they have Jrue Holiday and Andre Igoudala already. The only thing that I could see is Turner gets picked by the Sixers, but Igoudala playing as a SF? It doesn’t seem right. It would be a scary backcourt though. Their need seems to be at finding a dominant big man anyway, as Dalembert and Speights don’t exactly seem all too scary. I could see the Sixers trading down if they don’t feel they need either Wall or Turner.
Assuming this is true and Sixers don’t pick either, that means the Nets aren’t in too bad of a situation. Drafting one of them third overall means that they get Wall or Turner at a discount, which to be honest, is pretty good. Nothing else in the lottery seems to be much of a surprise there. Everyone else was in order for the most part, minus the Sixers/Nets/Wizards mix-up.
Portland is 22nd, one after the OKC Thunder. But what are the Blazers’ needs? Big man seems bad with Camby and Oden available at the start of next season, but could think about long-term since Camby won’t be with Portland for more than a season. Someone to back-up LaMarcus wouldn’t be bad. Portland’s problem is that they’d be drafting someone that would likely be a bench player, which seems mighty expensive. Miller, Roy, Batum, LA, Camby (or Oden eventually), is a pretty solid starting line-up. Miller would eventually be replaced by Bayless. The first round pick would likely be a project or a long-term investment. I don’t think it’s worth it. SG perhaps given Roy’s injury battles as of late?
What do you think?