Herald News Services
SECAUCUS, N.J. – Michael Jordan finally won something with the Washington Wizards – the NBA draft lottery – and the Seattle SuperSonics got what they expected Sunday.
Jordan’s Wizards won the top pick in next month’s NBA draft in a pingpong ball lottery contest that left Sonics coach Nate McMillan feeling ho-hum. Seattle got the 12th pick overall.
“We knew it would be pretty difficult for us to move out of the 12th spot,” McMillan said. “We still have some options. It’s still a good pick for us and we also have the option to trade the pick.”
McMillan said he didn’t see any sure-fire draft selection for Seattle.
“It’s such a young draft, there’s not a guy who’ll be a dominant player,” he said. “I think all these guys that are coming out will take some time to develop. There are a lot of fours and fives available in this draft. We still have a solid pick that will attract attention.”
There are also questions as to whether the Wizards will keep the top pick, and if they do, whether the No. 1 choice get a chance to play with his boss. Jordan has been mulling a comeback in the NBA, but he refused to shed light on either question Sunday evening in a static-filled telephone conference call from the 12th fairway of an undisclosed golf course.
“Right now I’ve been focusing on my job,” Jordan said when asked if the thought of playing with the top pick might influence his decision on a return to the NBA.
Jordan, the Wizards president of basketball operations, was thrilled seeing the Wizards beat the odds in jumping from the No. 3 spot to No. 1 in the lottery.
“When you’re trying to build a team, you need some wild cards,” said Jordan, who led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles before retiring after the 1997-98 season. He joined the Wizards as a part-owner on January, 2000.
“Having the No. 1 pick is a wild card,” Jordan added. “You’re going to have some options thrown at you. We have an opportunity to rebuild this franchise a lot quicker.”
The Clippers, who only 44 chances in the lottery, jumped from eighth to second, while the Hawks (89 chances) moved from fifth to third.
Chicago will have the fourth pick in the draft on June 27 in New York City. Golden State, which had the second-best chance, slipped to fifth and it was followed by Vancouver, the New Jersey Nets, Cleveland, Detroit, Boston, Denver, Seattle and Houston.
The top player picked might end up being a high school player. Eddy Curry of Thornwood High School in Illinois and Kwame Brown of Glynn Academy in Georgia are highly regarded. Shane Battier of national champion Duke and Eddie Griffin of Seton Hall, one of a record 75 players to apply for early entry, are among the top players coming from the college ranks.
“That’s been the routine the last couple of years, a lot of young guys coming from high school,” McMillan said. “Even at the college level you have freshman and sophomores. There are probably only three seniors that could be taken in the top 12. That’s the way the league is going. You have to take a look at these young guys. That’s the way the league is going.”
The problem for the Wizards is there isn’t a consensus No. 1 pick in this draft.
Assistant general manager Rod Higgins, who represented the Wizards at the lottery at the headquarters of NBA Entertainment, indicated Washington might deal the pick.
“Now we have an opportunity to exercise some trades, obviously,” Higgins said. “There’s not a Patrick Ewing; there’s not a Shaquille O’Neal.”
Jordan, who has seen Washington post a 36-89 record, including 19-63 this past season, made it a point not to watch the lottery because he “didn’t want to get excited about it.”
Jordan has been working out with fellow retiree Charles Barkley in recent months. Barkley has hinted an announcement on their possible return will be made this summer.
“We all now Charles, sometimes he gets his mouth running,” said Jordan, the third pick overall in the 1984 draft.
The Bulls, who had the best chance of winning with 250 of 1,000 chances, actually slipped to fourth in this lottery in which the Los Angeles Clippers and Atlanta Hawks joined the Wizards in beating the odds.
In the lottery, pingpong balls numbered one through 14 are placed in a drum and four are drawn to determine a four-digit combination. Washington, which had the third best chance of winning at 15.7 percent, won when the combination 13-12-3-5 was drawn.
The Wizards, who haven’t won a playoff game in 13 years, had never moved up on lottery day before Sunday.
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