This night couldn’t get any better for Washington Wizards fans. After being projected to get the 8th overall pick, the Washington Wizards secured a top 3 pick after the Detroit Pistons ultimately took their spot. Here is the complete order of the NBA Draft Lottery:

1. Cleveland Cavaliers
2. Orlando Magic
3. Washington Wizards
4. Charlotte Bobcats
5. Phoenix Suns
6. New Orleans Pelicans
7. Sacramento Kings
8. Detroit Pistons
9. Minnesota Timberwolves
10. Portland Trail Blazers
11. Philadelphia 76ers
12. Oklahoma City Thunder
13. Dallas Mavericks
14. Utah Jazz

Washington will likely use their third overall pick to select Georgetown’s Otto Porter, assuming he’s on the board. If Porter does end up in a Wizards uniform next year, Washington will fill a scoring role, while not losing much on the defensive side of the floor. Washington desperately needs someone who can score the ball, but can also contribute defensively.

Otto Porter is a perfect fit for Washington, since one of their glaring weaknesses is/was at the small forward position. With John Wall and Bradley Beal on the floor, Porter’s job will become a lot easier, since he was viewed as the number one option at Georgetown.

Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel and Kansas’ Ben McLemore are projected to get selected number one and two, respectively.

To sum it up, Washington’s night was a success. Hopefully we won’t have to watch the NBA Draft Lottery next season, for the Wizards’ sake.

I hope all of you have worn your lucky socks today, since Christmas time has arrived for every NBA team which didn’t qualify for the playoffs. The NBA lottery is filled with hope, but unfortunately only one team will prevail amongst the others, all of which desperately cling to their chance in hopes of adding more young talent to their struggling club.

So what are the odds your not-so-good favorite basketball team wins the luck of the draw?

1. Orlando Magic: 25%

2. Charlotte Bobcats: 19.9%

3. Cleveland Cavaliers: 15.6%

4. Phoenix Suns: 11.9%

5. New Orleans Pelicans: 8.8%

6. Sacramento Kings: 6.3%

7. Detroit Pistons: 3.6%

8. Washington Wizards: 3.5%

9. Minnesota Timberwolves: 1.7%

10. Portland Trail Blazers: 1.1%

11. Philadelphia 76ers: 0.8%

12. Toronto Raptors: 0.7%

13. Dallas Mavericks: 0.6%

14. Utah Jazz: 0.5%

It’s been quite some time since the projected team with the highest odds has won the NBA Draft Lottery, but with that said, it would take some major luck for the Washington Wizards to move up in the draft. There is approximately a 70% chance that the Wizards will remain in the 8th spot, so don’t be overly optimistic. Bradley Beal will be representing the Wizards tonight. A number of NBA Draft prospects will also be attending the lottery, possibly even seeing where their fate will be determined.

The lottery will be taking place at 8:30 PM on ESPN.

Most NBA fans probably know this, but it seems to me that there are a couple of misconceptions by a number of people about the NBA Draft Lottery – which takes place next Tuesday, May 21 – and how it relates to the Wizards’ chances.

The “lottery”  really only pertains to the first three picks. As explained in this Inside Hoops post,

…the first three picks in the Draft will be determined by the lottery and the remainder of the “lottery teams” will select in positions 4 through 14 in inverse order of their consolidated standings at the end of the regular season.

What does this mean for the Wizards? Well, currently they sit in the eighth spot in the lottery. The team has a 2.5 percent chance at the number one pick, but could still end up in the top three. If they do not end up in the top 3, the best they can do is pick eighth, because the order is basically reset after the top 3 picks are in place.

The Wizards, however, can end up picking lower if one or more of the six teams under them (slots 9 – 14) end up in the top 3 and they don’t. As a quick example, the Portland Trail Blazers currently sit in the number 10 slot. If they move into the top 3 (and the Wizards or no other team below them end up in the top 3), the Wizards would end up picking ninth. If the Portland Trail Blazers and Toronto Raptors (12 slot) both end up in the top 3, the Wizards would end up picking tenth.

Clear as mud, right? It’s somewhat tricky, but not really.  It was made public earlier this week that Bradley Beal will represent the team at the lottery. Maybe he’ll end up making the Irene Pollin face. So Wizards fans, on Tuesday, the rooting objectives are, in order:

• Win the lottery, get the top pick;
• If they don’t win the lottery, win a top 3 pick;
• If no top 3 pick, hope that none of the 9-14 teams win top 3 picks.