It was one of the most thrilling moments in the Knicks’ post-championship history.
In the first NBA draft lottery on May 12, 1985, and general manager Dave DeBusschere banged his fist on the table in excitement as the Knicks won the first pick. As everyone knew, the Knicks were going to select Georgetown star center Patrick Ewing.
Tension wasn’t nearly as high last night when the lottery took place at the NBA Entertainment Studio in Secaucus.
Unlike in the mid-’80s, when most of the top college players coming out were seniors, the best three players in next month’s draft are all underclassmen.
Queens-native Lamar Odom played one season at Rhode Island, Elton Brand is leaving Duke after his sophomore season, and junior college transfer Steve Francis is bolting Maryland after just one year. Two more underclassmen, Duke freshman Corey Maggette and UCLA sophomore Baron Davis are also potential top-5 picks.
“I think it’s a tragedy for basketball at all levels,” Timberwolves director of player personnel Rob Babcock said last week. “It hurts college because their best talent is coming out early. It hurts our league because they’re not ready to play NBA basketball.”
Ironically, it was the Timberwolves who drafted Kevin Garnett directly out of a Chicago high school with the fifth pick four years ago. Garnett, meanwhile, has gone on to become one of the league’s top stars.
“There are very few like Garnett,” Babcock said. “He’s a huge exception. He’s in almost a class by himself.”
This year’s top high school player entering the draft is Jonathan Bender, a 6-11 forward who had committed to Mississippi State before deciding recently on the NBA. It is possible Bender could be a lottery pick.
“All of us who have been in the league share a feeling that it would be nice that they could stay in school and grow maturity-wise and physically,” said Warriors GM Garry St. Jean.
There were 13 teams in the lottery, including Vancouver, the Clippers, Chicago, Toronto (two picks, one coming from Denver), Minnesota (from the Nets in the Stephon Marbury trade), Washington, Boston, Phoenix (from Dallas), Golden State, Cleveland, Seattle and Charlotte. Except for the Timberwolves and Suns, all of the teams missed the playoffs.
With the league’s worst record at 8-42, the Grizzlies had the best chance to gain the first pick. Under lottery rules, 14 ping-pong balls numbered one through 14 were placed in a drum. There were 1,001 possible combinations when four balls were drawn out of 14. Vancouver was assigned 250 combinations, while the Clippers, the second-worst team at 9-41, were assigned 200.
The Knicks will pick 15th in the draft, which will be held on June 30 at the MCI Center in Washington. The Nets’ first pick will come in the second round at 34.