Wizards Win Lottery

The Washington Wizards had a one-in-ten chance of winning the NBA Draft Lottery going into the night. Turns out, that's all they needed. The Wizards vaulted from the projected five spot to the top pick, securing the opportunity to draft Kentucky point guard John Wall. Philadelphia also jumped up to take the second pick, pushing lowly New Jersey to the third pick.

I'm REALLY not sold on John Wall but more on that later. The fact of the matter is, he is viewed as a lock for the number one pick and a franchise player. By sucking the way they did throughout the season, New Jersey had a 25 percent chance of obtaining Wall's services and beginning their reboot going in. A popular idea circulating around the rumor mill was that Wall, combined with the move to Brooklyn, the team's new arena, and the new gagillionaire owner would be used to entice Lebron James to the franchise. That theory took a major shot tonight. As a fully biased member of the "Lebron to the Mavs" party (the official website), it thrilled me to see New Jersey pop up third. I think you can take New Jersey off the list of viable options for Lebron.

More importantly, however, I'm happy for the Wizard franchise. My John Wall bashing aside, this is an opportunity for that team to press the restart button and get some fresh blood into a dying franchise. The late Abe Pollin, who owned the team for decades, was a class act and idiotic moves by his idiotic players (namely, Gilbert Arenas) made his last couple of years with the team miserable. The Pollin's are in the process of selling the team but his wife represented the Wizards at the Lottery tonight. It was a very touching moment to see her on stage as the results were announced. I hope the Wizards get a great player who helps them rebuild because goodness knows they deserve it.