The 2008 NBA Draft Lottery was held on Tuesday May 20th at the NBA Offices in Secaucus, NJ. Present were 14 teams all chancing luck and aiming for the Number 1 Pick in the upcoming 2008 NBA Draft on June 26th. The Nets, represented by General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe and minority owner, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, maintained the #10 pick that they were projected to get going into the Lottery. The surprise of the night, however, was that the Chicago Bulls – slotted to go one pick ahead of the Nets, at #9 – moved all the way up to the first pick. The Bulls finished 33-49 on the season; the Nets closed with a record of 34-48. With the 10th pick and currently holding the 21st and 40th selections – there should be a good pick for New Jersey.

Quotes from the Draft Lottery:



“So we’ll be looking at a good player at 10 and at 21 and possibly at 40. There are a lot of interesting players in this Draft. I’m looking forward to the workouts; I think we’re going to have a very, very busy month. First in Orlando (pre-draft camp) and then we’ll be working out the guys. So it should be very interesting.”
- Kiki Vandeweghe; General Manager, Nets Basketball



“This draft seems deep at the power forward and center positions, so we are in a good position to help ourselves in the areas that we have targeted. Given that we have two first round selections as well as a second round pick, if something presented itself that we felt could really help us, then we might look to move either one or both of our picks. But right now, it appears that we'll stay with at least the 10th pick and probably the 21st as well.”
- Rod Thorn; President, Nets Basketball



“This was fantastic,” said the rap icon. “I’m from a neighborhood in Brooklyn, and to come this far and do something like that; it’s just a fantastic experience for me. It’s one of the many accomplishments and it’s something that I’m very proud of.”
- Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter