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		NBA Lottery Draft By Dave Zizmor May 21, 2008

	Tuesday was the draft lottery. This determined the Warriors draft position. The Warriors came into the draft lottery with the best record ever for any team in the lottery. Obviously, most teams make it to the playoffs when they win as many games as the Warriors with 48 games. When you win 48 games in the NBA, forever and for as long as there has been a league, 48 wins is good enough to make it into the playoffs. The Warriors aren't a bad team by any stretch, but because their in the lottery, the Warriors had a chance to jump into the top three picks. There was a very small chance; it was about 0.7% chance, of the Warriors snagging one of the top three picks. The reason why that was significant is because this year, there are two great players at the top of the draft-- Derrick Rose, who is the point guard from Memphis, a freshman point guard, and there was Michael Beasley, the power forward from Kansas State. Both of these guys would have been a tremendous help to Golden State. That's why they were hoping against hope that the ball would bounce their way and the Warriors would make good on that 0.7% chance and jump into the top two. Rose would have been a great guy to have around to learn from Baron Davis, who is in the final year of his contract. Rose could have been the guy that could have taken over. Rose is built kind of in the same way that Baron is. Rose is a tough scorer, very stout, but he's quick, has good passing instincts, and has a good jumper. Rose is just one of those tough, tough players. The Warriors have the 14th pick in the draft, so unless they trade up between now and the end of June when they have the actual draft, the Warriors are sitting at the 14th spot. 14th isn't necessarily bad. There are plenty of good players in this draft and this is supposed to be one of the deeper drafts in recent years. There is a lot of good young talent, a lot of freshman and sophomore guys coming out of the draft, and there is good international talent. Kings draft picks: The Warriors by all accounts were really a playoff team that was unfortunate enough not to make the playoffs. The Kings, on the other hand, nobody would confuse them with a playoff team; the Kings just weren’t that good. The Kings had a few bright spots here and there. Kevin Martin being the brightest; he's an up and coming star and on a better team, he would be an All-Star. Martin flies under the radar just because he's playing in Sacramento. However, Martin is a true talent and a great player. He's one of those guys you have to game plan for. You have to know where he is on the floor or else he's going to hurt you. Martin can hit from everywhere on the floor. He can drive, hit free throws, and hit from the outside. Martin-- he's a great player. He's the guy the Kings are going to build around as they move forward in rebuilding this squad. The Kings have certainly fallen from the earlier part of this decade. They're in rebuilding mode and they’re going to have to use their 12th pick in the lottery to start that rebuilding process. Chances are, Ron Artest is gone; that experiment didn’t really pan out. The Kings have a few good players here and there. The Kings are in a position, except for Martin, that they should be looking at everybody on the floor outside of Martin. The Kings have to look for the best available player. Because right now, what Sacramento needs is talent. The Kings are just kind of lacking overall talent. The Kings are not going to be like the Warriors and get a sure fire pedigree. You’re going to get a guy who you’re 100% certain that he's going to step on the floor and make an immediate impact. At #12, you’re not getting Kevin Durant; you’re not getting Chris Paul. You’re getting a guy who has talent, but maybe he hasn't proven it enough. Time will tell for Martin. David Zizmor covers the NBA for Sportstalk Radio.