First thoughts on the NBA Draft lottery

By Jason Jones (posted by Rick Morris)

After taking a look at the results of the NBA Draft lottery, here are my immediate thoughts about how the Top 10 look to shake out and how they will fit into their new teams.

1. WAS-John Wall (starting roster: John Wall, Gilbert Arenas, Josh Howard, Al Thornton, Andray Blatche)

2. PHI-Evan Turner (starting roster: Allen Iverson (maybe), Evan Turner, Andre Iguodala, Elton Brand, Mareese Speights)

3. NJN-Wesley Johnson (starting roster: Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Wesley Johnson, Yi Jianlian, Brook Lopez)

4. MIN-Al Farouq Aminu (starting roster: Jhonny Flynn, Corey Brewer, Al Farouq Aminu, Kevin Love, Al Jefferson)

5. SAC-DeMarcus Cousins (starting roster: Beno Udrih, Tyreke Evans, Carl Landry, Jason Thompson, Spencer Hawes ...Cousins not an immediate starter)

6. GS-Derrick Favors (starting roster: Stephen Curry, Monte Ellis, Corey Maggette, Anthony Randolph, Andris Biedrens...Favors between not an immediate starter and a project with "GREAT" upside)

7. DET-Greg Monroe (starting roster: Rodney Stuckey, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Charlie Villanueava, Ben Wallace/Chris Wilcox ... Monroe not an immediate starter)

8. LAC-Patrick Patterson (starting roster: Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Patrick Patterson, Blake Griffin, Chris Kaman)

9. UTA-Cole Aldrich (starting roster: Deron Williams, Wesley Matthews, Andrei Kirilenko, Boozer/Milsap, Mehmet Okur...Aldrich immediate backup at C with considerable minutes)

10. IND-Donatas Motiejunas (starting roster: TJ Ford, Brandon Rush, Danny Granger, Troy Murphy, Roy Hibbert...Donatas is a relative project with the upside of Andrea Bargnani and the lowside of Kosta Koufos as a rookie)

^ Madly in love with John Wall
^ In love with Evan Turner
^ Really, really like Wesley Johnson
^ Very intrigued with Patrick Patterson

As of right now, there are only three guys I'm really excited about, to a great degree. I'm sorry, but outside of the top three, I'm afraid it’s a crapshoot. I may be overselling the dropoff, but it looks bad. John Wall could be Dwayne Wade meets Rajon Rondo, Evan Turner could be Paul Pierce meets Joe Johnson and Wesley Johnson could be Andre Iguodala meets Josh Smith and everyone else could be ... bums. It’s harsh, but it looks grim.

In recent years, the second half of the first round and all of the second round in the NBA draft is starting to feel like the 6th and 7th rounds of the NFL draft. Risk moves, flyers, and practice squad guys abound. There will be guys with decent NBA careers, but 20 years from now, no one will confuse this draft with the 2003 draft class.