New Orleans will get the #1 amd #3 pick

[Yoki_IsTheName]

It could be. The 2014 All Star makes sense. I feel bad for the Bobcats if it happens though. Then again, MJ might pick someone other than Davis for the 1st overall anyway...

So if Davis goes to NO, hope they let go of Jason Smith. Like the dude to play for us.

[guava_wrench]

Wow. Funny stuff.

What is great is that every possible outcome has been put forward by some conspiracy theorist so someone will be able to say, 'I told you so'.

At least they are saying it ahead of time though. What will be more annoying is the people who spring up after the fact and come up with conspiracy stories for whatever ends up being the outcome.

Yeah, unless the pick goes to the Bobcats (best odds) or the Raptors (Nobody would ever fix the lottery to put a guy in Canada) someone will call shenanigans.

The foil-heads have done their thing when best odds won in the past.

And Canada is an entire country. Would be great to have a good team there.

[kgiessler]

I remember when Las Vegas was chosen as the All Star location and theories about future NBA teams in LV were discussed.

[Moranis]

If New Orleans is good enough for the Superbowl it is good enough for the NBA All Star game.

[CelticHooligan3]

Put on your tinfoil hat tonight?

Other teams ownership wouldn't stand for fixing the lottery, just crazy fan talk about nothing. The potential gain for the league is very small, the fallout for stern would be massive if exposed. He wouldn't bother messing with it.

Besides the ping pong machines aren't easy to rig and multiple teams observe. The second and third picks have to be drawn after all.

The question ive always had on this issue is if the lottery isn't rigged and 100% fair why dont they televise the actual room where the picks are made? Just always seemed unneccesary if there was truly nothing to hide, no?

[Fafnir]

Put on your tinfoil hat tonight?

Other teams ownership wouldn't stand for fixing the lottery, just crazy fan talk about nothing. The potential gain for the league is very small, the fallout for stern would be massive if exposed. He wouldn't bother messing with it.

Besides the ping pong machines aren't easy to rig and multiple teams observe. The second and third picks have to be drawn after all.

The question ive always had on this issue is if the lottery isn't rigged and 100% fair why dont they televise the actual room where the picks are made? Just always seemed unneccesary if there was truly nothing to hide, no?

They have shown video they don't do it live because it's boring!

They do the first pick then 2nd and finally third . But due to the way it works they often get repeats for the 2nd/3rd picks so they keep redrawing.

[Moranis]

Put on your tinfoil hat tonight?

Other teams ownership wouldn't stand for fixing the lottery, just crazy fan talk about nothing. The potential gain for the league is very small, the fallout for stern would be massive if exposed. He wouldn't bother messing with it.

Besides the ping pong machines aren't easy to rig and multiple teams observe. The second and third picks have to be drawn after all.

The question ive always had on this issue is if the lottery isn't rigged and 100% fair why dont they televise the actual room where the picks are made? Just always seemed unneccesary if there was truly nothing to hide, no?

They have shown video they don't do it live because it's boring!

They do the first pick then 2nd and finally third . But due to the way it works they often get repeats for the 2nd/3rd picks so they keep redrawing.

seriously, it is just a computer that spits out numbers.  who would want to watch that aside from the teams, you know people that actually do watch it?

[pearljammer10]

The Bobcats deserve picks 1-5.

[shiggins]

I for one enjoy conspiracy theories and believe many of them are true.  But even so, looking back on those #1 picks...it seems a little unfair to say, how convenient, the small market teams need get lucky in the draft to get superstars so they get to win the lottery.  We need the superstars in small cities to survive, blablabla.  But its the same the other way too, people complained when the knicks won the #1 pick because they were a big market, and then people said NBA needs the big markets to do well to generate revenue and get the big bucks in the big marketes.

Its easy to make the conspiracy theory both ways...

[Chris]

I thought the owner of the Saints just purchased the Hornets. 

Yes, he did.  And that is exactly why they have the All-Star game.  It is standard practice in the NBA (and other leagues) to use the All-Star game (or the superbowl in the NFL) as a way to reward someone for buying a team, or building a new stadium.  I am sure it was actually part of the negotiated package that allowed them to sell the Hornets to an owner who was committed to keeping them in New Orleans.

This isn't a conspiracy, it's business.

[Chris]

Put on your tinfoil hat tonight?

Other teams ownership wouldn't stand for fixing the lottery, just crazy fan talk about nothing. The potential gain for the league is very small, the fallout for stern would be massive if exposed. He wouldn't bother messing with it.

Besides the ping pong machines aren't easy to rig and multiple teams observe. The second and third picks have to be drawn after all.

The question ive always had on this issue is if the lottery isn't rigged and 100% fair why dont they televise the actual room where the picks are made? Just always seemed unneccesary if there was truly nothing to hide, no?

They have shown video they don't do it live because it's boring!

They do the first pick then 2nd and finally third . But due to the way it works they often get repeats for the 2nd/3rd picks so they keep redrawing.

And every team has a representative in the room, who is generally a part of the teams management.  Now, I understand you can make the argument that those owners are conspiring together, however those top picks can be worth Millions and Millions of dollars to an individual franchise and owner. 

Let's look at Wyc, who I believe was in the room during the 2007 lottery, when the C's were in the running for Oden or Durant, and ended up with the worst possible scenario.  Does anyone really believe that, had he witnessed something even the slightest bit stinky, he wouldn't have made a HUGE deal about it, filed suit against the league, and all of that?  Because I certainly think he would have.

This is big business, and it is involving a large number of incredibly rich, incredibly powerful, and incredibly narcistic and competitive men and women.  None of them are going to participate in a conspiracy that will cost them millions of dollars. 

[fairweatherfan]

Just for fun, here's a ready-made conspiracy theory for every lottery team:

New Orleans: Already covered.

Charlotte: Stern owes Jordan a favor for secretly suspending him from the league for gambling back in the day (one conspiracy theory supporting another!  Synergy!).  Jordan's tight with enough of the league to have a lot of dirt on Stern. 

Washington: Probably the biggest media market without much recent success.  Stern wants to put Davis and Wall together to kiss up to his fatcat buddies in DC.

Sacramento: Stern's all about new arenas, and he wants to give the Maloofs (or a secret new ownership group waiting in the wings) maximum leverage to get one, whether in Sacramento or elsewhere.

Cleveland: Why do you think Gilbert was so confident he'd win a title before LeBron?  Dude knows where the bodies are buried - Stern owes him, and also wants a good team in Cleveland to play up a LeBron rivalry.

Toronto: Stern has always been determined to expand internationally - this is his chance to push his agenda to eventually bring the league overseas.

Golden State: Favor to the new ownership group, and ensures they don't have to give up their pick this year.

Detroit: Stern wants the Pistons to be good - why else do you think the refs so blatantly favored them back when they had a strong team?

Portland: Last time Stern rigged the lottery for them, they picked Greg Oden.  This one's a mulligan.

New Jersey: Yeah, the team's about to move to Brooklyn, are making a major push for Howard, and they "happen" to win the lottery too.

Houston:  Why do you think Rockets management barely made a peep when their part of the Paul trade fell through?  This is a blatant kickback for not fighting Stern's tampering.

Utah/Milwaukee:  I'm gonna change my answers here to "Tim Donaghy" and "Something something something THE MEDIA, you guys."  Doesn't matter which team they're attached to.  If anyone's got a better suggestion it'd be appreciated though.

[CelticHooligan3]

Put on your tinfoil hat tonight?

Other teams ownership wouldn't stand for fixing the lottery, just crazy fan talk about nothing. The potential gain for the league is very small, the fallout for stern would be massive if exposed. He wouldn't bother messing with it.

Besides the ping pong machines aren't easy to rig and multiple teams observe. The second and third picks have to be drawn after all.

The question ive always had on this issue is if the lottery isn't rigged and 100% fair why dont they televise the actual room where the picks are made? Just always seemed unneccesary if there was truly nothing to hide, no?

They have shown video they don't do it live because it's boring!

They do the first pick then 2nd and finally third . But due to the way it works they often get repeats for the 2nd/3rd picks so they keep redrawing.

seriously, it is just a computer that spits out numbers.  who would want to watch that aside from the teams, you know people that actually do watch it?

Didnt it used to be a giant metal ball with envelops of all the teams in it? I thought there was some sort of controversy one year when Stern supposedly folded a corner of the Knicks envelop and they got Ewing. Thats way more interesting to me than a random computer but i guess they did away with it?

[indeedproceed]

Wow. Funny stuff.

What is great is that every possible outcome has been put forward by some conspiracy theorist so someone will be able to say, 'I told you so'.

At least they are saying it ahead of time though. What will be more annoying is the people who spring up after the fact and come up with conspiracy stories for whatever ends up being the outcome.

Yeah, unless the pick goes to the Bobcats (best odds) or the Raptors (Nobody would ever fix the lottery to put a guy in Canada) someone will call shenanigans.

Michael Jordan has let a lot of people know that if the Bobcats continue to lose, and he continues to lose money, he's selling.

[Moranis]

Put on your tinfoil hat tonight?

Other teams ownership wouldn't stand for fixing the lottery, just crazy fan talk about nothing. The potential gain for the league is very small, the fallout for stern would be massive if exposed. He wouldn't bother messing with it.

Besides the ping pong machines aren't easy to rig and multiple teams observe. The second and third picks have to be drawn after all.

The question ive always had on this issue is if the lottery isn't rigged and 100% fair why dont they televise the actual room where the picks are made? Just always seemed unneccesary if there was truly nothing to hide, no?

They have shown video they don't do it live because it's boring!

They do the first pick then 2nd and finally third . But due to the way it works they often get repeats for the 2nd/3rd picks so they keep redrawing.

seriously, it is just a computer that spits out numbers.  who would want to watch that aside from the teams, you know people that actually do watch it?

Didnt it used to be a giant metal ball with envelops of all the teams in it? I thought there was some sort of controversy one year when Stern supposedly folded a corner of the Knicks envelop and they got Ewing. Thats way more interesting to me than a random computer but i guess they did away with it?

it was, but then they made it have 1000 choices, and thus couldn't actually do envelopes, balls, etc.  It is just a computer program that randomly spits out numbers until they have three unique teams represented.