Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
May 26, 2004
This is the Suns' second visit in three years inside the pingpong ball drum that is the NBA Draft Lottery.
Phoenix benefited when the lottery sent its draft selection back two spots in 1999. The Suns took Shawn Marion at No. 9. They suffered when they gained a spot in 1986. Remember No. 6 pick William Bedford?
Lottery balls will assign the top three selections for the June 24 draft. Expansion team Charlotte will pick fourth, and the other lottery teams will fill the fifth through 14th spots based on records.
Orlando, Chicago and Washington have the best chances of cracking the top three in today's lottery, to be broadcast at 5 p.m. on ESPN.
Every lottery team is pining for the top two spots. Connecticut center Emeka Okafor and Atlanta high school forward Dwight Howard are the likely first choices.
The third spot might feel like 1987, when Phoenix leaped five rungs to the No. 2 pick. Armon Gilliam gave the Suns some good years. Meanwhile, No. 1 pick David Robinson established a phenomenal career in San Antonio.
The Suns have a 6.4 percent chance at winning the No. 1 pick, 7.21 percent chance at No. 2 and 8.24 percent chance at No. 3.
"Whether we are at No. 1 or No. 10, we've got a shot at getting a very good basketball player or leveraging the pick for another transaction," Suns President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo said. "Moving up would certainly better the cards in our hands."
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Okafor would best suit the Suns' immediate needs. His defensive skills and maturity make him appear NBA ready. But his bad back only adds to the questions about him, from being a short center at 6 feet 9 to offensive limitations.
Beyond him, it will be difficult to excite fans about a draft that may make college players a minority for the first time.
Where the Suns draft could mean the difference between an 18-year-old, 7-foot-2 Lithuanian (Martynas Andriuskevicius) and an 18-year-old, 7-foot Latvian (Andris Biedrins).
"I've heard for the last 10 years that it's a weak draft," Colangelo said. "Every year, there are players that emerge as impact players."
The lottery will start an off-season with myriad Suns options among free agency, trades and the rights to Serbian guard Milos Vujanic. The NBA's youngest club could feasibly go without a pick - the Suns do not have a second-round pick and could trade their first.
Diana Taurasi, the Mercury's prize for winning the WNBA lottery, will represent the Suns for the telecast. Four of 14 pingpong balls will emerge from the drum to form one of 1,001 combinations, all but one of which are assigned to teams.
"If we get a high pick, that'd be great because I think the Suns are one or two players away," said Taurasi, a lifelong Lakers fan. "I talked to Emeka and Ben Gordon (fellow Connecticut players and likely lottery picks) the other day about how they'd be great here. I told them what a great organization it is and how the fans are great. They'd already heard it from other people."
COPYRIGHT 2004, AZCENTRAL.COM. Used with permission.
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