NBA Draft Lottery: Follow the Bouncing Balls

May 20, 2008 — -- The 2008 NBA draft lottery (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET) brings us to one of the more interesting and debated aspects of the NBA Draft. Fourteen teams vie for the No. 1 pick in the draft based on the NBA's complicated lottery process.

The lottery originally was developed to help the NBA's worst teams rebuild by having the highest pick in the draft. But often the results haven't had exactly that effect.

Since 1990, only four teams with the worst record have won the lottery: the Orlando Magic in 2004, the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003, the Philadelphia 76ers in 1996 and the New Jersey Nets in 1990.

The team with the second-best probability of winning the lottery has fared even worse, winning the lottery just twice: the Magic in 1992 and the San Antonio Spurs in 1997.

The lottery can change the course of a franchise. In 1992, the big prize was Shaquille O'Neal, and the Magic walked away with the Diesel even though the Timberwolves had the best chance of winning. How many championships would the Wolves have won with Shaq anchoring the paint?

In 1997, another amazing center, Tim Duncan, was the consensus No. 1 pick. And while the Celtics had the best chance of winning the lottery, the Spurs got the lucky bounce that would bring them four championships. Meanwhile, Celtics fans are still mourning over the big guy that got away.

Last year's lottery was one of the biggest in recent memory, with two top prizes -- Greg Oden and Kevin Durant. And it was the Portland Trail Blazers, who had just a 5.3 percent chance of winning the lottery, and the Seattle SuperSonics, who had just a 9.3 percent chance of getting the second pick, who took home the first and second picks. In fact, none of the three worst teams in the league finished in the top three last year.

This year, there are two top prizes again -- Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley. Last week, we broke down what each team in the lottery likely would do if it won the No. 1 pick. Here are some other interesting things to keep an eye on heading into Tuesday's draft lottery: