Hoping their number is up
Stroll through the Clippers’ sleek practice facility, and there it is, proudly displayed in a hallway near the practice court, the digits that helped turn around their franchise: 5-3-6-10.
They are black numbers on four white pingpong balls drawn fromthe 2009 NBA draft lottery that gave the Clippers the No. 1 pick that year and, ultimately, Blake Griffin.
No strangers to past lotteries, the Clippers are on to better things these days, although 14 teams, including the Lakers, will be tucked into a pair of large rooms in a New York hotel Tuesday to determine the official draft order in June.
Once upon a time, draft position was based solely on a team’s regular-season record with one quirk: The worst team from each conference took part in a coin flip to determine who got the actual No. 1pick.
Entering its 30th year, the NBA lottery has evolved into a dramatic half-hour show, with poker-faced Hall of Famers, smiling daughters of team owners and tense general managers awaiting the opening of stuffed envelopes that determine their draft position.
“It’s great theater,” said Orlando Magic executive Pat Williams, the most successful participant in lottery history with three winning nights. “It’s a dramatic evening, particularly if there is an absolutely greatplayer inthe draft.”
There isn’t a LeBron James or Kevin Durant in this draft, but scouts say there are two potential star big men — Duke’s Jahlil Okafor and Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony-Towns— and two at point guard— D’Angelo Russell of Ohio State and Emmanuel Mudiay, who played professionally in China instead of attending Southern Methodist.
The Lakers can only hope to capture some of Orlando’s luck after finishing with a 21-61 record, the worst season in the franchise’s 67year existence. Their immediate fortune will now be reduced to chance and fate.