Raptors win at Ping-Pong
Draft lottery puts Celtics at No. 7
The 2006 NBA draft, which excites almost no one, took its form last night, with the Toronto Raptors leapfrogging over four teams to win the lottery and earn the No. 1 pick, a first for the Canadian team. The Celtics will pick seventh in the draft, which is June 28 in New York City.
Toronto, which won 27 games last season, entered the lottery with an 8.8 percent chance at winning and got the right combination of Ping-Pong balls to move ahead of the Hawks, Bobcats, Bulls, and Trail Blazers. That made it especially sweet for new Toronto president/general manager Bryan Colangelo, who represented his team at the drawing in Secaucus, N.J. He called the lottery result ``a reversal of fortune going forward."
Portland, which had the worst record in the league (21-61) and the best chance to win the drawing (25 percent), dropped the maximum three spots to No. 4. Team president Steve Patterson said, ``I'd rather be picking No. 1, but we'll get a fine player at No. 4."
Only four times in the last 19 years has the team with the worst record ended up with the No. 1 overall pick. The Bucks went in last year with the sixth-worst record and won the lottery. Only the top three picks are drawn. After that, position is based on record.
Toronto was the surprise winner of the lottery, but the big winner of the night was Chicago. That had been established before the first logo was unveiled by deputy commissioner Russ Granik because Chicago secured the Knicks' No. 1 pick, without strings, in the Eddy Curry trade. (Chicago also has the right to switch first-rounders with New York next year from the same deal.)
Given that the Knicks finished with the second-worst record, the Bulls knew going in they'd do no worse than fifth, not bad for a team that won 41 games, has a gifted core of young players, and extended the Miami Heat to six tough games in the first round. They ended up with the second pick, and a happy John Paxson, the team's executive vice president of basketball operations, said it would help him address two main needs: size and athleticism. (Sounds like LSU's Tyrus Thomas to me.)
The Bobcats will pick third, followed by the Blazers and then the Hawks. Beyond that, everything went according to Hoyle: Minnesota, Boston, Houston, Golden State, Seattle, Orlando, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and Utah. The Celtics were represented by Jo Jo White, who brought one of Red Auerbach's cigars for good luck. But he never had the chance to light it.
Celtics hoops boss Danny Ainge said in a conference call that he is open to just about anything regarding the seventh pick. If he were to trade the pick for a player, Ainge said, ``It's going to have to be a pretty good player because we feel we're going to get a good player at that position." He also said he would explore moving up, moving down, and even moving out altogether.
``We're not really disappointed," said Ainge. ``We were holding out some hope. But we've been preparing for this position since the season ended."
The Celtics will not have a second-round pick. In one of those quirky trade clauses, had the Warriors moved ahead of the Rockets in the lottery, Golden State's second-round pick would have been moved to Boston. The Celtics are in line to get that pick next year.
``We don't really need a second-round pick," Ainge said.
Some might say they don't need a first-round pick, either, especially for a young team in what many see as the weakest draft in years. (Colangelo is not of that opinion. He called the draft ``very deep" and said all the lottery teams would get a good player. Ainge said he thinks there are more than seven good players.)
Among the names you'll see linked to the Celtics in the weeks approaching the draft are Brazilian forward Tiago Splitter (who in all likelihood won't be available next year because of his European contract), Connecticut point guard Marcus Williams (due in tomorrow for a workout), Washington guard Brandon Roy, Villanova guard Randy Foye, Duke big man Shelden Williams, and athletic swingmen such as Ronnie Brewer of Arkansas and Rodney Carney of Memphis. Williams, Mardy Collins of Temple, and Rajon Rondo of Kentucky (in for a workout yesterday) are among the top point guard candidates, an area the Celtics want to address.
Among those likely to have been drafted before Ainge makes his call are Texas center LaMarcus Aldridge, Gonzaga's Adam Morrison, LSU's Thomas, Spain's Andrea Bargnani, and UConn's Rudy Gay. 