As a Knicks fan I'm hoping the 1st pick will go to New York.

Can someone remind me how it works? Are the top 3 or 5 guaranteed getting some level of pick? e.g., can the Bucks get #1, or the Warriors?

IMO Riley will take Rose...

There is talk that the Heat are going to make huge runs at Boozer or Elton Brand to fill out the PF position at the end of next season.

Pretty much the team with the worst record in the league can't slip past number 4. Any team in the lottery can win the number 1 pick.

The lottery is really for the picks 1,2 and 3. A team will only slide backwards by 3 picks (worst case scenario), which means teams below on the lottery rankings (refer to first post for rankings) them have moved up to positions 1, 2 or 3.

Takes a degree in mathematics, but basically:

To determine the winner, fourteen ping pong balls numbered 1-14 are placed in a standard lottery machine and four balls are randomly selected from the lot. Just as in most traditional lotteries, the order in which the numbers are drawn is not important. That is, 1-2-3-4 is considered to be the same as 4-3-2-1. So although there is a total of 24 orders in which the balls numbered 1-2-3-4 can be picked, they are all treated as the same outcome. In doing this, the permutation of 4 balls from 14 becomes the combination of 4 balls from 14. That is, the total of 24,024 (14! / 10!, or 14x13x12x11) possible permutations is reduced by a factor of 24, to 1,001 combinations. Of these, 1 outcome is disregarded and 1,000 outcomes are distributed among the 14 non-playoff NBA teams. The combination 11-12-13-14 (in any order that those numbers are drawn) is not assigned and it is ignored if drawn.

Sorry for the triple post.... (merge if you want Isaac)

To make it simple, the Heat are guaranteed the 4th pick in the draft (worst case scenario). For this to happen would mean the Bobcats won the draft, the Bucks moved to the 2nd pick and the Clippers won the 3rd pick, hence the draft would look like

1: Bobcats
2: Bucks
3: Clippers
4: Heat
5: Supersonics
6: T-Wolves
7: Grizzlies
8: Knicks
9: Bulls
10: Nets
11: Pacers
12: Kings
13: Blazers
14: Warriors

Once the top 3 have been sorted, then the rest of the lottery teams falls into place based on record.

Wow, I expected to get that from one of the Engineering brethren.......

TR, surely there are some striking cabbies in the nation's capital! To figure that one out means way too much time on your hands...
; )

Bucks need to dump Michael Redd and get a new SG.

I'm still a little suss behind the whole lottery process. In todays world I don't understand why it has to be done behind closed doors.

Too true DB, the issue in Canberra at the moment is the kangaroo cull. Don't have much of an issue with striking Cabbies due to Canberra basically not having any. Taxi service here is dismal...

Way of topic but I heard a funny cabbie story from a colleague at work. Got a taxi home last weekend and it cost him $275 for roughly a 10 min ride (should cost about $25).

His first mistake was vomiting in the front seat. He hopped out of the cab for a further spew and then got back into the back seat. He then spewed again, hopped out and paid the cabbie $105 ($50 a spew, $5 cab fare, he got all of 2 km down the road). He started walking home and managed to wave down another cab about 10 mins later (it was minus 1 at 3am). The tard climbs in still blind drunk and vomits in the front seat of the new cab, climbs in the back seat and vomits again and passes out. Gets woken by the cabbie at Belconnen McDonalds and rolled out of the cab with a bill of $120. Some how he also vomited on the cabbie and felt sorry so gave him a $50 tip (2 spews = $100, cab fare = $20 and tip $50).

"Got a massive cab fare on the weekend. I was spewing!"

ha ha ha TR.....yes the cull, should have thought of that one...

Isaac, that was sickening....

does the second round work like this though, just say the heat slipped to fourth in the first round font they get first pick of the second round or something like that because it goes by the actual chance spots? i have heard that or am i completely wrong

The order in the second round is determined by regular season record, without regard to the lottery results.

That wasn't Chuck Harmison telling the story was it TR?

Miami will take Rose

As someone posted before they are in need of a genuine PG

There is talk around agents that Rose could be the next CP3....Fingers crossed my boys the Heat get that first pick

And take Jawai in the 2nd Round....Lol that would make it an awesome draft