The Washington Wizards win the 2010 draft lottery

By Sean Mackey

Yesterday, I was expecting to wake up on Wednesday to numerous LeBron to New Jersey rumors. Thank God this wasn't the case.

The Washington Wizards were given a glimmer of hope when they won their first draft lottery since 2001 on Tuesday evening. Washington overcame 10.3 % chance over the favored New Jersey Nets to land the #1 pick. New Jersey owner Mikhail Prokhorov was fairly confident the Nets would win but dropped to #3 in a two man draft. The 76ers moved up to grab the #2 pick. Here's the order for the first round of next month's NBA draft:

1.Washington Wizards
2.Philadelphia 76ers
3.New Jersey Nets
4.Minnesota Timberwolves
5.Sacramento Kings
6.Golden State Warriors
7.Detroit Pistons
8.Los Angeles Clippers
9.Utah Jazz
10.Indiana Pacers
11.New Orleans Hornets
12.Memphis Grizzlies
13.Toronto Raptors
14.Houston Rockets
15.Milwaukee Bucks
16.Minnesota Timberwolves
17.Chicago Bulls
18.Miami Heat
19.Boston Celtics
20.San Antonio Spurs
21.Oklahoma City Thunder
22.Portland Trail Blazers
23.Minnesota Timberwolves
24.Atlanta Hawks
25.Memphis Grizzlies
26.Oklahoma City Thunder
27.New Jersey Nets
28.Memphis Grizzlies
29.Orlando Magic
30.Washington Wizards

While I'm sure the fan's of Washington are excited they have a great player in John Wall to replace Gilbert Arenas, I feel kind of bad for John Wall. I think it would have been way more beneficial for the league and for Wall if the 1st pick had fallen to the 76ers. The 76er's have a great legacy and could use someone to overshadow the failures of Allen Iverson. Washington has always kind of been a boring franchise, especially after Michael Jordan was kicked out of town. I also really hate that their the Wizards and not the Bullets. Changing their team name and their colors has kind of destroyed that franchise for me.

Regardless, I was ecstatic that the New Jersey Nets didn't land the #1 or #2 pick. Plus, the picks went to teams that will have little to no relevance in the eastern conference next season. The rumors would have been flying all night and morning regarding LeBron going to the Nets. While he still may end up their in 3 years, last night's draft may have prevented him from going there for a while or ever.

The mock drafts are all over the place today. ESPN NBA Insider, Chad Ford has Patrick Patterson falling to #22 (Portland) and Xavier Henry to #19 (Boston). On other mock drafts, both players are in the top 12. After pick #2, it really is going to be interesting to see where everyone goes. The NBA draft combine is coming up soon along with an onslaught of private workouts, so I wouldn't take any mock draft too seriously at the moment. The only thing that's for certain is that Wall is going to be a Wizard and Evan Turner is going to be a 76er.

Regardless, the Bulls still have the #17 pick and I'm still hoping they can land James Anderson from Oklahoma State.