 Larry Bird answers a reporter's questions prior to the NBA Draft Lottery in Secaucus, N.J.
(Jennifer Pottheiser/NBAE/Getty Images)
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The Pacers didn't win the NBA Draft Lottery but neither did they lose.
With less than a 3 percent chance of securing one of the top three picks in the June 26 NBA Draft, the Pacers instead exited the Lottery in the same position they entered – with the No. 11 pick. And that's just fine with President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird.
"Obviously, you hope to be able to move up but the odds are better that you could move back. You have a better chance going out and buying a lottery ticket so I don't get too hyped up about it. There's a chance, but the odds are really against you."
Chicago's chances weren't that much better than those of the Pacers, who had a 0.8 percent shot at the top pick, but the Bulls – slotted ninth and with a 1.7 percent chance – beat the long odds and emerged with the No. 1 pick. Miami, Minnesota, Seattle and Memphis, respectively, rounded out the top five.
This will be the Pacers' first lottery pick since 1997, when they took Providence forward Austin Croshere at No. 12 overall, and their first No. 11 pick since 1987, when they secured the services of UCLA guard Reggie Miller, who went on to emerge as an iconic figure in franchise history.
The 11th pick has yielded mixed results in recent years. Of the last 13 players selected at that slot, just one, Andris Biedrins (2004), was a regular starter last season. Four of the last 10 players selected at No. 11 (Fran Vazquez, Kedrick Brown, Jerome Moiso, Trajan Langdon and Tariq Abdul-Wahad) are not in the league.
Not since Allan Houston (1993) has a player selected at No. 11 gone on to achieve NBA All-Star status. But of the 13 players taken at No. 11 from 1980-93, fully eight went on to become All-Stars, including Miller, Houston, Terrell Brandon and Derek Harper.
