The NBA Conference Finals are in full swing but it’s not the only piece of NBA business happening right now. NBA scouts are going to gyms all over the country looking for their team’s next player. The picture isn’t 100 percent clear yet but it will be Wednesday night when the NBA does its annual draft lottery to determine the order of the top 14 picks. No matter who you talk to, Kentucky’s Anthony Davis is the number one pick in the draft. He’s not just on the radar for the 14 teams with a chance of getting him, but according to Orlando Sentinel writer Mike Bianchi, other teams that seemingly have no chance of getting Davis are also rooting for certain teams to have the ping pong balls land their way.
“You see, the Magic desperately need the Nets to win the draft lottery Wednesday. If that happens, the Nets get the rights to Kentucky freshman phenom Anthony Davis, whom they could then trade to the Magic for Dwight Howard.
It is the perfect scenario for everybody involved. The Nets need an established, charismatic superstar to make an immediate impact when they move into the sports-congested, star-studded Big Apple, where athletes such as Derek Jeter, Eli Manning, Carmelo Anthony and Tim Tebow dominate the landscape. Dwight could make the Nets relevant immediately.”
A Magic-Nets for Howard has been long talked about, but the Nets getting the top pick in the draft would certainly change things. Would Anthony Davis be enough to get the Magic to trade Howard? Would an Anthony Davis-Brooke Lopez combo be too much for the Nets to give up to get Howard? Let’s say the Nets got pick two or three. Would a Brook Lopez-number two or three pick be enough to get Howard? This is assuming the Nets match any offer for Lopez even it’s an over pay.
One thing that is known is that Anthony Davis by himself will not be enough to keep Deron Williams, at least that is according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. So the Nets, if they win the lottery tonight, might be open to trade him to the Magic to acquire Dwight Howard and maintain the dream of a superstar pairing opening up the Barclays Center next year.
Alright, so Magic fans and beat writers have their scenario, what about other teams. Certainly the Hornets have their hopes that one of their two top ten picks lands in the top three (insert your David Stern conspiracy theory here). Could the Cavs strike gold twice. Who gets picked second? That will also become a little more clear after tomorrow because we’ll know who’s picking second and that will determine the two pick as much as anything else. The Draft Lottery and the Draft itself are two of my favorite nights of the NBA calender. Wednesday night should be fun.
