Bulls Win Draft Lottery as the Knicks Slip to 6th
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By HOWARD BECK
The New York Times
May 21, 2008
SECAUCUS, N.J. — The N.B.A. fates showed an odd sense of humor at the draft lottery Tuesday night when the Chicago Bulls, a team without a coach, won the grand prize: the chance to take point guard Derrick Rose or power forward Michael Beasley with the No. 1 pick.
The Bulls were slotted ninth and had only a 1.7 percent chance of winning the lottery. They leapfrogged seven teams, including the Knicks, whose new coach, Mike D’Antoni, turned down the Bulls to come to New York.
As the lottery results were announced in the NBA Entertainment studio, D’Antoni sat about 20 feet to the left of Steve Schanwald, the Bulls’ representative, on the dais.
“It’s a really nice consolation for us,” said Schanwald, the Bulls’ executive vice president of business operations. “We know we’re going to end up with a great coach, whatever happens. But even great coaches need great players. And we’re going to add a great player.”
In a draft that is considered deep, but with no sure things after Rose and Beasley, the Knicks will get a less great player. Slotted fifth, they slipped to sixth in the lottery.
“Six will be a good starting point,” D’Antoni said. “We don’t want to be there next year, I know that’s for sure. So we’ll take advantage of it this year.”
Had he made a different decision two weeks ago, D’Antoni could have been in Schanwald’s seat. The twist of fate was interesting, though not to D’Antoni.
“Naaah, you guys make a good story out of that,” he told reporters with a chuckle. “That’s easy. That’s a layup for you guys.”
The Bulls have two talented young point guards, Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon, although Rose projects as a better player than both of them. But Chicago has a greater need in the frontcourt and could pick Beasley.
Miami, which had the best chance of winning the lottery, slipped to No. 2. Pat Riley, the team president, said he had not decided which player he would have taken at No. 1. Now, the decision will be more academic. Draft experts and scouts all agree that Rose, of Memphis, and Beasley, of Kansas State, will be the top two picks.
“They helped Memphis and they helped Kansas State,” Riley said. “Now, can they immediately help a team like ours, that’s a team that won 15 games, and change it? I don’t think our team is a 15-win team.”
Miami’s season was ruined by injuries to Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal, and was affected by the mid-February trade of O’Neal to Phoenix. With a healthy Wade, Shawn Marion and the first-round pick, the Heat could make a rapid turnaround.
The rest of the lottery held mostly to form, based on the regular-season records of the 14 teams that missed the playoffs. The Minnesota Timberwolves will pick third, followed by the Seattle SuperSonics, the Memphis Grizzlies, the Knicks, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Milwaukee Bucks, the Charlotte Bobcats, the Nets, the Indiana Pacers, the Sacramento Kings, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors.
Three teams slipped a spot in the draft order — the Grizzlies (from fourth to fifth), the Knicks and the Bobcats (from eighth to ninth). Among the players who could be available to the Knicks at No. 6 are guard Jerryd Bayless of Arizona, center Brooke Lopez of Stanford, guard O. J. Mayo of Southern California and small forward Danilo Gallinari of Italy.
For the Knicks and their new management team, the lottery marked the start of a potentially dramatic overhaul.
“That’s what, to me, is exciting about today,” said Donnie Walsh, the new team president. “It starts the next stage. Getting the coach was stage 1; stage 2 starts after we get our number tonight. And then we start getting into the league and finding out what’s what.”
The Knicks have not posted a winning record in seven years and the roster, naturally, needs work. Although securing one of the top two picks would have accelerated the rebuilding process, D’Antoni said he was not placing too much emphasis on the draft.
“You can mess up. The 1 pick could be a bust,” he said. “These things are not a science. And the eighth pick could be the best pick.”
Among Walsh’s primary goals is to get under the salary cap by 2010. He could use the player he selects as incentive for a team to take one of the Knicks’ big contracts, such as Zach Randolph’s.
Once the lottery was over, Walsh said he would “explore all of the above.” |
