Teams get hopes up for NBA draft lottery

May 20, 2008 - 2:38 PM By Anthony Olivieri PA SportsTicker Pro Basketball Editor

If Jay-Z can't woo LeBron James to the New Jersey Nets in two years, maybe he will be able to help score another stud in next month's NBA draft. But it's the Miami Heat who hope to grab the biggest prize.

Jay-Z, the rap mogul, husband of singer-actress Beyonce, part-owner of the Nets and good friend of James will have to put on another hat - good luck charm for New Jersey, which is making its first appearance in the draft lottery since 2001.

Jay-Z, who is in his first appearance as the Nets' representative at the lottery, will join other hoops dignitaries at the league's annual night of eternal hope Tuesday when the NBA's 14 non-playoff teams wait on the bounce of a ping-pong ball.

Those teams hope to cash in their lottery ticket for highly coveted freshmen Michael Beasley of Kansas State or Derrick Rose, who made an appearance in the NCAA title game with Memphis.

This season, the Heat (15-67) will have the best chance of earning the choice between the two by virtue of their worst season in franchise history. Just two years removed from an NBA title, the Heat traded center Shaquille O'Neal and lost guard Dwyane Wade to injuries.

Miami was forced to suit up a host of D-League performers and could use help at almost every position to put alongside Wade and Shawn Marion, who was acquired in the O'Neal trade.

While the Heat have the best chance, the Seattle SuperSonics (20-62), Minnesota Timberwolves (22-60) and Memphis Grizzlies (22-60) still have a reasonable shot at securing the No. 1 pick.

The New York Knicks (23-59), Los Angeles Clippers (23-59), Milwaukee Bucks (26-56), Charlotte Bobcats (32-50), Chicago Bulls (33-49) and Nets (34-48) round out the league's 10 worst teams.

The first three picks in the draft will be determined by the lottery with team Nos. 4-14 placed in inverse order of their finish last season.

On the other end of the spectrum, James of the Cleveland Cavaliers is coming off a loss to the Boston Celtics in Game Seven of their Eastern Conference semifinals series Sunday.

The superstar forward can opt out of his contract with the Cavaliers after the 2009-10 season and has been rumored to join pal Jay-Z with the Nets, who are planning their highly anticipated move to Brooklyn.

But New Jersey is a longshot to land the lottery's two top prizes and likely will have to make a more shrewd choice toward the middle of the pack. The Nets still are in search of a capable back-to-the-basket scorer to complement guards Devin Harris and Vince Carter and forward Richard Jefferson.

The SuperSonics, who are rumored to be relocating to Oklahoma City, hope to grab a high pick for the second straight season.

After taking Rookie of the Year Kevin Durant with the second selection in 2007, Seattle most likely would nab Rose, who would be a much-needed floor general in its directionless offense.

Durant was part of one of the most-hyped duos in draft history along with top overall pick Greg Oden, who was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers before missing his rookie campaign to recover from microfracture knee surgery.

Next month's draft will offer similar excitement as teams line up to draft Beasley - a high-scoring forward with a smooth lefty stroke - or Rose, who is the kind of consummate do-it-all point guard which has taken the league by storm.

A more controversial talent, Southern California guard O.J. Mayo - who currently is being investigated for NCAA violations - had been tabbed as a potential No. 1 pick since he was in middle school.

Ironically, he almost certainly will not be.

Whether or not to draft Mayo seems to be the least of the problems for some lottery teams, including the Grizzlies, who traded franchise center Pau Gasol to the Los Angeles Lakers for, essentially, center Kwame Brown and point guard Javaris Crittenton.

Memphis now has a roster chock-full of point guards and a frontline headlined by former No. 2 overall pick - and all-time bust - Darko Milicic.

If that's not bad enough, consider the Knicks and newly hired head coach Mike D'Antoni, who will represent the once-proud franchise at the lottery just a few miles outside of Manhattan in Secaucus, New Jersey.

D'Antoni, for his part, runs a fast-paced system and needs to work with New York's slow-footed roster. Needless to say, the cap-strapped franchise needs a big break in the lottery.

The Knicks - among other teams - covet Rose but would settle for Arizona freshman guard Jerryd Bayless to be the focal point of D'Antoni's new seven-seconds-or-less regime.

Other teams who will enter the make-or-break stage during this year's draft season are the Bobcats and the Bucks, who will start over with new coaches and, in Milwaukee's case, a new general manager.