About 7:25 p.m. Wednesday, a message will crawl across John Paxson’s hand-held computer as the Bulls’ general manager attends 8th-grade graduation ceremonies for one of his sons.
For the sake of decorum, hope that the message contains the Nos. 1, 2 or even 3. Audible groans or long faces aren’t very becoming during graduation festivities. Paxson will learn the Bulls’ draft position via e-mail shortly after it is revealed at the annual NBA draft lottery in Secaucus, N.J.
Only three scenarios make sense for the Bulls–drafting Connecticut forward Emeka Okafor or Duke forward Luol Deng or engineering a high-profile trade–and all three possibilities are enhanced greatly by securing a top-three pick.
“That would make our situation better,” Paxson said. “We’re confident if we got one of the top picks, we’d make a good decision with that player or have options in terms of doing something with the pick. But No. 5 or 6 isn’t the end of the world.”
Bulls special assistant B.J. Armstrong will represent the organization on the dais.
Tyson Chandler said he plans to watch, which is intriguing given that he and Okafor play the same position and Chandler will be included in trade talks if the Bulls land the No. 1 pick.
“I hope we get the No. 1 pick,” Chandler said. “That means our team is better. Drafting Okafor wouldn’t bother me. They can pick whomever they want, trade for whomever they want. My job is to be the best player I can be coming into camp and work as hard as I can this summer.”
After Wednesday, Paxson will tell every team in the league to make him creative offers for the pick and anyone on the roster but Kirk Hinrich and, possibly, Eddy Curry. That’s why a top-three pick is so important.
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Who wants to be a Bulls millionaire?
Depending on where the balls bounce Wednesday, one of these players likely will be a Chicago Bull on June 26:
Emeka Okafor, UConn, PF
Dwight Howard, SW Atl. Christian HS, PF
Luol Deng, Duke, SF
Ben Gordon, UConn, PG
Devin Harris, Wisconsin, PG
Shaun Livingston, Peoria H.S., PG
Andre Iguodala, Arizona, SG
Andris Biedrins, Skonto Riga (Latvia), PF
Martynas Andriuskevicius,
Zalgiris Kuanas (Lithuania), C
Josh Childress, Stanford, SF
–NBA.COM
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Edited by Chris Malcolm (ccmalcolm@tribune.com) and Chris Courtney (cdcourtney@tribune.com)
By the numbers
What chance does each team have to land the No. 1 pick overall in June? Here’s how it breaks down.
TEAM, REC., PER.
Orlando, 21-61, 25.0%
BULLS, 23-59, 20.0%
Washington, 25-57, 15.7%
L.A. Clippers, 28-54, 10.5%
Atlanta, 28-54, 10.4%
Phoenix, 29-53, 6.4%
Toronto, 33-49, 3.7%
Philadelphia, 33-49, 3.6%
Cleveland, 35-47, 1.8%
Golden State, 37-45, 0.9%
Seattle, 37-45, 0.9%
Portland, 41-41, 0.6%
Utah, 42-40, 0.5%
94 A record 94 players have applied for early entry into this year’s draft, 21 more than last year.
18.9 The Bulls have an 18.9 percent chance for the second pick, 17.2 percent chance for the third, a 31.7 percent chance to draft fifth and a 12.2 percent to select sixth.
7 The lottery will be televised live by ESPN beginning at 7 p.m. before the start of Game 3 of the Detroit-Indiana Eastern Conference Final.
4 The expansion Charlotte Bobcats will draft fourth no matter what.
2 Only twice in the last 14 draft lotteries has a team with the league’s worst record won the first pick.
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Edited by Chris Malcolm (ccmalcolm@tribune.com) and Chris Courtney (cdcourtney@tribune.com)
