Well, lottery players, it's lottery day today (or night tonight, rather). NBA style. Before I get into it, check WTLC for an in-depth analysis of how the lottery works (I didn't read it as my eyes go cross-eyed when I read long posts, but from my understanding, he breaks it down very well.)
Plenty of my fellow SBNation bloggers are excited, much more than they should be at the fact that their team missed the playoffs. Even so, Sactown Royalty, Bullets Forever, Posting and Toasting, Welcome To Loud City and the leaders of the Suck Squad themselves, Golden State of Mind will all have their lottery threads open, and all will probably be more exciting than the comments here (at the very least, more depressing and easier for you to laugh at than my amazing sense of humor). Still, I invite you to hang out tonight and keep things exciting in the comments - especially all of you guys without a horse in this race. I hate being by myself.
I've been doing calculations for about 16 hours so far, and I've come to a conclusion: There are going to be, at a minimum, 11 teams unhappy with the lottery. This hurts my feelings, as I'm always looking at the upside of things. Therefore, this mornings post will be my bullets on why you shouldn't be mad when the freakin' Suns win the lottery.
- This draft isn't as bad as everyone says it is. Yes, yes, I know that you've probably heard that this is the weakest draft ever from some lazy NBA executive. It's not. It's not top heavy, sure, but it's not "Give me Griffin or give me death," either. This draft will be filled with solid role players. Lots of contributors that will come in and know their role. It's not a draft oozing with Ridiculous Upside, but it's not going to be impossible to draft a starting caliber player if your team ends up with the number six pick.
- Go back to 2005 and look at that draft if you want to look at the last weak draft as projected by the experts. That was supposed to be weak as well, but it produced Chris Paul and Deron Williams, two of the best point guards in the NBA right now. Marcin Gortat was the 27th pick of the second round, and the Polish Hammer's been a beast in the playoffs. Monta Ellis isn't a terrible player, and he was the 40th overall pick. Brandon Bass and Von Wafer were both second round picks as well, and they both played a big part on their teams this season. If scouts do their due dilligence, there are good players to be found if there are ood scouts scouting.
- This draft doesn't have the bust potential of other drafts. While there aren't many sexy picks that will happen on draft night, there won't be many "we drafted who!?" moments either. There are a lot of solid, NBA ready players in this draft that you should have heard of before draft night. None of these players are mystery players. Mysteries at the NBA level, yes, but teams will be drafting on what they see this season, rather than what they think a player can become. This can only be beneficial to the NBA in the long run.
- Love the one you're with. No amount of complaining is going to make you happy with where you're slotted. Heck, you're probably not even going to be with whomever the team selects - there's a reason your team is in the lottery, after all. Regardless, love the one you're with. It'll make you happy, and me a lot less sad when I troll your comments. It's a win-win situation.
- Don't worry, be happy. At least you're not a Celtics fan. Or a D-League blogger, for that matter. The draft, no matter who your team picks, brings hope. Look on the Bright Side (of the Sun).
- If nothing else, get drunk. Our friends over at HP, specifically The Corndogg, have invented a lottery drinking game. I haven't had a drink in awhile, but if I get bored tonight, this will happen.
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