Wizards' future brightens; Nets' bad luck continues

SECAUCUS, N.J. -- To say it's been a rough year for the Washington Wizards would be an understatement.

There was the death of owner Abe Pollin in November, the gun-toting antics and eventual suspension of Gilbert Arenas, trades that sent two former All-Stars away for almost nothing in return, and a 26-56 finish to a season that, at one point, seemed so full of promise.

Nothing can take away the pain of the past, but Tuesday's win at the NBA Draft lottery certainly helps the Wizards move forward.

With his 1978 championship ring on her finger, Pollin's widow Irene had a look of shock when she realized that she had won the top pick. She said afterward that her late husband's presence was in the room.

It may have been stronger in conference room 3A of NBA Entertainment headquarters, where the actual draft order was determined by 14 ping pong balls in a lottery machine. Before all of the top three picks were determined, the Wizards' lottery combinations came up three times.

After the first one was drawn and a combination belonging to the Philadelphia 76ers came up for the second pick, two more of the Wizards' combinations were drawn. Finally, a combination belonging to the New Jersey Nets was drawn, giving them the third pick.

The consensus among experts is that Kentucky's freshman point guard, John Wall, is the top talent in this year's draft. But Washington already has a point guard in Arenas, and they owe him $80 million over the next four seasons. So Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld has a bit of a conundrum in front of him.

Neither moving Arenas to shooting guard nor trading him to another team is an easy proposition. But Grunfeld left little doubt about his plans for the No. 1 pick.

"We're going to take the best player available, regardless of position," he said. "This is a player that we intend to have with us for a long, long time. So whoever the best player we feel is available to us, that's the one we'll pick."

Asked whether he's concerned about positional redundancy, Grunfeld simply said "No."

Sixers president Ed Stefanski probably couldn't have come away from the lottery in a better position. If the Wizards were the most disappointing team in the league this season, the Sixers weren't far behind. And with both his roster moves and coaching choices coming under heavy scrutiny, Stefanski is certainly on the hot seat.

But with the second pick, there's no pressure on him to choose between Wall and Ohio State swingman Evan Turner. The Sixers already have a talented young point guard in Jrue Holiday and the likely addition of Turner will give them a backcourt for the future.

The Nets will drive back to East Rutherford disappointed and with the toughest decision of the early draft. The luck of new owner Mikhail Prokhorov seemingly ran out, and now team president Rod Thorn will face the pressure of making the right pick for his team at No. 3.

After Wall and Turner, the next best players available should be Georgia Tech's Derrick Favors and Kentucky's DeMarcus Cousins. Both are big men, but they have very different skill sets. With his size, Cousins may be a more valuable player, but he probably doesn't fit alongside current Nets center Brook Lopez.

Power forward has been a position of need for the Nets since they traded Kenyon Martin six years ago, and Favors is a true power forward with the athleticism which would complement Lopez well.

"I think both of them are very talented," Thorn said, not nearly as clear as Grunfeld was when it comes to need vs. best available. "Those are things we have to work through. For instance, could Cousins play four? Could Brook play some four? Could both of them play some four? Those are things that we really have to look at with our team and determine exactly where we are."

In all, from New York down to Washington, this was an ugly season in the Northeast Corridor. But things definitely got better on Tuesday. Even the Knicks, whose pick belongs to the Utah Jazz, came out of the lottery with some good news. For one, Utah didn't move up. And secondly, New Jersey didn't get the top pick, so the draw of playing with Wall can't help the Nets in free agency.

LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh could certainly alter the balance of power in the NBA with their decisions come July. But with both Wall and Turner now seemingly heading East, Tuesday's lottery could also go a long way in bringing more balance to the two conferences down the line.

John Schuhmann is a staff writer for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here and follow him on twitter.

The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.