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With a little lottery luck, NBA teams are hoping to strike it rich
How, where does this draft class rank?
Beyond Beasley and Rose: Who's No.3?
NBA lottery team needs
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The NBA's version of Powerball will be played Tuesday night with the "winning ticket" expected to deliver a player talented enough to change the course of an entire franchise.
And for the second straight year the Seattle SuperSonics have a realistic chance of hitting the jackpot in the annual NBA Draft Lottery, which will unveil the 2008 NBA Draft order at 7 p.m. live on ESPN.
Last year, the Sonics landed the No. 2 overall pick and snared Kevin Durant, who went on to win this year's Rookie of the Year award. This year's top prizes are Kansas State power forward Michael Beasley and Memphis point guard Derrick Rose, two players who are viewed as can't-miss prospects and possible future NBA All-Stars.
"That would be crazy," said NBADraft.net President Aran Smith of the Sonics potentially winning the lottery. "Going to Oklahoma, you put a Durant with a Derrick Rose and that just makes them that much harder to guard and that much better."
The Sonics have a chance to assemble such a tandem thanks to the NBA's unique system.
First established in 1985 before adopting its current format in 1994, the Draft Lottery gives each of the non-playoff qualifying teams a crack at a top three selection.
Unlike the NFL or MLB, whose draft orders are determined by reversing the order of the previous season's standings, the NBA Draft uses a weighted lottery by means of numerical combinations drawn off ping-pong balls numbered one to 14.
Although the NBA awards the most chances of lottery luck to the worst team, that team is not guaranteed to receive the top pick.
Last year, for example, the Memphis Grizzlies had the worst record and thus the best chance at the No. 1 pick. The Grizzlies, however, wound up selecting fourth. The Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks, with the second and third worst records, respectively, and thus the second and third best chances to receive the first pick, also lost out and ultimately selected fifth and sixth.
It's a system that discourages teams from purposely losing games to get a top draft pick, a tactic that conceivably could be more prevalent in the NBA since a