Matt Dery Previews The NBA Draft Lottery
Tonight is a very important evening for the Detroit Pistons franchise.
For the second straight year, Joe Dumars and company hope to get a little luck as they await the results of the annual NBA Draft Lottery.
This will determine just where the Pistons pick in next month's draft and this can affect the future of the organization in a major way.
Let's be honest here: The Pistons are WAY overdue for some good luck. This past season was a disaster, both on and off the court, but now, there is hope ahead with Tom Gores set to take over as the new owner.
This provides stability and allows everybody in the organization to focus on the task at hand, which is to put a successful product on the court and build a business again. Detroit made its own luck last year by landing where they were slotted at number seven and drafting Greg Monroe. He was terrific and thank goodness teams like Philadelphia, Minnesota, and Golden State passed him up. This year, the Pistons again are slotted at number 7. They have a 4.3 percent chance of moving up to number one, a 4.9 percent chance of grabbing number two, and a 5.8 percent chance of landing the third pick. You never know.
Conspiracy theorists around the NBA always believe that it is good karma having a new owner set to come aboard as the lottery commences, we'll see. I have been told by a number of sources that the team wants to address its frontcourt in this draft, but, things could change if the team lands a top three selection. Many believe that Arizona's Derrick Williams and Duke's Kyrie Irving are the clear-cut top two players in this draft. I see Enes Kanter, the big man from Turkey, going third. The lottery goes on tonight at 8:30 pm from New Jersey. Monroe will be there on stage to represent Detroit.
