Basketball fans in our nation's capital got their first bit of good news in some time when the Wizards won the 2010 NBA Draft Lottery and landed the top overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft.
The Wizards had the fifth-best chance of winning the top pick, with 8.8 percent of the possible winning combinations. Philadelphia also moved up and will pick second, with the Nets dropping to third, Minnesota to fourth and Sacramento to fifth.
Washington's win raises all sorts of unanticipated questions. The Wizards will almost certainly select John Wall with the pick. But what will that mean for Gilbert Arenas, the incumbent point guard with the untradeable contract and legal issues? Can Arenas -- who has always been more of a scorer than a pure point guard -- play shooting guard on a full-time basis, or would that leave the team too exposed on the defensive end? Will Wall -- who didn't seem terribly excited about the result -- attempt a John Elway/Eli Manning-style pre-draft holdout and ask the Wizards not to select him?
Philadelphia will get an excellent consolation prize for finishing second: the chance to draft Evan Turner, who will pair with last year's first-rounder Jrue Holiday for an exciting and talented young backcourt. The Nets have to be disappointed sliding to third, but will be able to add a top big man -- DeMarcus Cousins or Derrick Favors -- to pair with Brook Lopez in the frontcourt.
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