Spartacus is Dead!

I've been contemplating doing this for awhile and it seems that the time is right. With the recent uproar that was created when noted journalist and author Buzz Bissinger attacked Deadspin.com creator (and author in his own right) Will Leitch on Bob Costas' HBO show, I decided that it was time for me to step out from the shadows of anonymity. After all, one of the big issues that the "established media" has with bloggers is that they hide behind usernames of their choice and therefore, don't have the level of accountability that journalists, columnists and reporters are supposedly held to. In fact, in a recent thread on the Grizzlies Message Board, a poster called out others that he claimed were hiding "behind screen names", rather than taking people to task who deserve it (owner Michael Heisley in this particular case). Well, I cannot do anything about that for anyone else, but I can do my own part by "killing off" my screen name here.

Spartacus is now dead on 3 Shades of Blue. My name is Joshua Coleman. I'm a 28-year old home improvement contractor/landscaper and one of the biggest Grizzlies fans in existence. I created this blog, I invited ChipC3, Zack, MemphisX and CarlCR to contribute and I'm the one responsible for what happens here -- good or bad. As they say, the buck stops here.

Reviewing Expectations and Predictions

Back before the season began, I predicted what each player's statistical output for the season would be. Let's take a look back and see just how far off I really was with the primary players, shall we? If you want to see how the role players did, I'll let you check out the link above and see for yourself.

Mike Miller

Prediction: 32 MPG, 16.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 3.4 APG, .472 FG%, .422 3PT%, .795 FT%

Actual: 35.3 MPG, 16.4 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 3.4 APG, .502 FG%, .437 3PT%, .774 FT%

Then: Mike will see a slight drop in overall scoring as his minutes decrease, but his efficiency should increase since he won't be dog-tired by All-Star break.

Now: Miller shot better from the floor and rebounded more than I thought he would, but overall, I'm pretty pleased with my prediction, especially since I pointed at his efficiency increasing, which is exactly what happened.


Rudy Gay
Prediction: 32 MPG, 13.5 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.4 SPG, 1.5 BPG, .440 FG%, .380 3PT%, .720 FT%

Actual: 37 MPG, 20.2 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.4 SPG, 1.0 BPG, .462 FG%, .346 3PT%, .785 FT%

Then: Rudy should see slight increases across the board in his second season, most notably in the defensive categories and rebounding as he'll shift over to PF in some lineups. Hopefully, I'm lowballing him, but I don't want to set expectations too high, which is something we'll discuss later in the post.
Now: Well, I guess that "lowball" might not even cover it, although I don't think that anyone expected that big a leap in Rudy's scoring and efficiency -- including him. Again, I was very close on rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, but considerably off on scoring and shooting percentages.

Darko Milicic
Prediction: 28 MPG, 9.5 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.2 APG, 2.2 BPG, .475 FG%, .626 FT%
Actual: 23.8 MPG, 7.2 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 0.8 APG, 1.6 BPG, .438 FG%, .554 FT%

Then: Darko will be given ample opportunity to prove himself, and after a slow start will warrant the opportunity to start and finish games. His free throw shooting will continue to be a problem area for him, even as he reverts back to a higher shooting percentage from the floor.
Now: Darko didn't start slow at all, but an injury-plagued season derailed his efforts to show that he's not the bust that the media makes him out to be. On a per-minute basis, his stats are actually very close to what I predicted.

Juan Carlos Navarro
Prediction: 20 MPG, 14.3 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 2.3 APG, 0.7 SPG, .445 FG%, .409 3PT%, .820 FT%
Actual: 25.8 MPG, 10.9 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 2.2 APG, 0.6 SPG, .402 FG%, .361 3PT%, .849 FT%

Then: "La Bomba" has been the hit of the preseason so far, with his electric play carrying the team in the 2nd halves of most games. If he manages to avoid "the rookie wall", he could be in the running for Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year...or both.
Now: JCN was just as inconsistent as any other rookie, leading to shooting percentages that were much lower than I predicted. Looking back, I obviously went way too high on PPG for someone I was expecting to play less than half a game. I thought that Navarro have much more of a score-first mentality, but he was a more complete, all-around player than that.

Kyle Lowry
Prediction: 26 MPG, 8.5 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 6.7 APG, 1.7 SPG, .395 FG%, .379 3PT%, .875 FT%
Actual: 25.5 MPG, 9.7 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 3.6 APG, 1.1 SPG, .432 FG%, .257 3PT%, .698 FT%

Then: Kyle appears to have surged into the lead as the heir apparent for the PG spot when (not if) Damon is traded this season. While that may only last for part of this season, it is encouraging to potentially have two young starter-quality PG's on the roster given the issues the Grizzlies have had at that position the past few seasons. He's another guy that I'm tempering expectations for, since there are so many variables at the PG position this season. I expect him to play more MPG than either Conley or Stoudamire, even though he'll likely be coming off the bench to start the season.
Now: Well, Kyle didn't start often (only 9 games), but he did manage to log a lot of MPG even still. Kyle wasn't the facillitator that I was expecting, which led to much lower assist numbers than I was anticipating. Lowry's shot improved mechanically through the season, even if his perimeter percentages don't reflect that. Also, I'm begging him to spend all summer with Mark Price after seeing those free throw numbers.

Hakim Warrick
Prediction: 13.0 MPG, 6.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 0.6 APG, 0.5 BPG, 0.5 SPG, .530 FG%, .743 FT%
Actual: 23.4 MPG, 11.4 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 0.7 APG, 0.4 BPG, 0.5 SPG, .502 FG%, .704 FT%

Then: Why the drop in minutes after Hak played so well last year? Because of the arrival of Darko Milicic mostly, but also because Warrick doesn't play defense, doesn't pass the ball and can't dribble. Marc Iavaroni can forgive one of those things in a player, but not all three. If Stro does get moved, then perhaps Hakim will find some additional playing time. Otherwise, it will take some serious growth and development on his part to become a contributor for this team, IMHO.
Now: Obviously, I didn't expect the team to trade Pau Gasol mid-season, which led Hak getting far more minutes than the prediction above. Even with that said, it is a little disconcerting that Warrick's assists, steals and blocks weren't any better with the additional playing time. Hak still doesn't play defense, pass or dribble very well.

Mike Conley
Prediction: 24.0 MPG, 8.2 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 3.8 APG, 1.2 SPG, .408 FG%, .338 3PT%, .793 FT%
Actual: 26.1 MPG, 9.4 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 4.2 APG, 0.8 SPG, .428 FG%, .330 3PT%, .732 FT%

Then: Conley is expected to be the PG of the future, but I think he'll spend most of this year learning from Damon and Kyle, rather than being thrown directly into the fire right off the bat. He'll struggle some, because that's what rookies do, but by the end of the season he might be splitting minutes evenly with Kyle.
Now: Mark me down for being wrong on the reasoning, but right about the stats once again. Conley started 46 of the 53 games he appeared in, as the coaching staff felt that he was ready to assume that role as soon as Damon Stoudamire was released. Conley wasn't as disruptive on defense as I expected, but he was a better shooter/scorer than I anticipated.

As mentioned earlier, I can't make myself go through the Andre Browns and Casey Jacobsens on the roster, but I'm considering reviewing the players who are no longer on the team. If you're interested in reading more about Pau, Damon and Stro, drop a line in the Comments.

Season in Review: The Cardinals

As we enter the deeper parts of the Grizzlies bench I am going to do several players at once. Frankly their isn't that much to say otherwise about them.

Today we focus on the Cardinals. For those unfamiliar with the Grizzlies roster make up that is Brian Cardinal and the Stanford boys Jason Collins and Casey Jacobsen.

Jason Collins was the largest contributor last season among the three and not solely because of his size. At 7 ft and 255 pounds Collins was the most physical player in the paint for the Grizzlies last season. He didn't produce in the box socres but his presence was felt in the game by the opposition. Collins is not a scorer or rebounder despite his size but his physical play and excellent fundamentals allow other players to score and reboung when he is in the game.

Collins is on the last year of his contract and is not expected to be resigned when that contract is up. That does allow Memphis to use his contract in a deal to acquire more talented players until the trade deadline or his expiring contract could be used to try and entice a FA to Memphis if no deal is made prior to that.

Casey Jacobsen was a disaster for Coach Iavaroni and the Grizzlies last season. The former German league Playoff MVP was unable to find his shot all season finishing. His 33.9% from the field and 22.2% from the arc was not what anyone expected from the former Stanford sharpshooter. The Mason, as he was called by less than enthused fans for the large amount of bricks he put up during the year, was actually rumored to have been benched by the owner Micheal Heisley and not Coach Iavaroni. That raised many eyebrows considering Tarence Kinsey, last season's surprise player at the end of the year, was released by the Grizzlies in December in favor of Jacobsen.

Casey did work hard when on the court and was rumored to be a good player in the locker room but effort and personality aren't a substitute for baskets in the NBA. Defensively Casey actually was more impressive than expected but he started from such low expectations in that area that even with his effort it didn't make him a solid defender. This was probably Casey's last opportunity in the NBA and is expected to resign overseas or retire. It will be interesting to see who the Grizzlies ask to be his replacement as the team blogger. While he didn't seem able to perform on the court, Casey's blog was by far the best written among the Grizzlies blogs.

Brian Cardinal still has his fans in Memphis but they are becoming fewer and fewer as his contract continues to balloon and his production continues to fall. Cardinal continues to deny that his knee is causing him any problem but after two surgeries and a less than stellar athletic talent to begin with it could be simply a situation where the wear and tear has taken too much of a toll on him. The heart and intelligence are still top notch however. Cardinal saw his steals drop below 20 for the season (10) for the first time since joining the Grizzlies and that was despite a 127 minute increase in playing time from the previous year. Cardinal shot a career low 30.9% from the arc in a season where he played at least 16 games and a low of 34.0% from the field as well.

Cardinal looked slow and feeble in the uptempo style prefered by Iavaroni and the Memphis fans. Cardinal is still signed for an additional two seasons and at the MLE maximum it isn't likely he will be traded anytime soon unless Memphis decides to move one of their rookies. The good news is that owner Michael Heisley has insisted the team play better defense next year and that could mean a more deliberate attack which could favor Cardinal's game. Being another year removed from surgery should help as well but that also means the 31 yr old Cardinal is another year older. Old is not a good thing to be on the current Grizzlies roster.

Who Matters for the Grizzlies?

I read an excellent post by Dave on Blazers Edge the other day and it got me thinking about the Memphis Grizzlies (just about everything does after all) and how our team fits into this philosophy.

In Dave's blog he discussed the different tiers of players on a team. While not earth-shattering in his revelations he does put things into a format that other teams/blogs can use to evaluate the makeup of their team. To semi-quote Dave:

Tier One: These are the 1-3 players (max!) who form the core of your team. This is your Dwyane Wade in Miami, your Kobe and Pau in L.A., your Big Three in Boston. There is a huge, unbreakable line right under this tier to differentiate it from all of the others, as they don’t even compare.
Tier Two (Optional): If you only have 1 or 2 Tier One guys your team will often have supporting stars to fill out those top 2-3 spots. These are the Shawn Marions of the world. They aren’t carrying the team on their own but those Tier One guys aren’t going to score all the team’s points themselves. They need an 18-20 ppg guy here or there.
Tier Three: These are usually the rest of your starters after Tiers One and Two and often your 6th man. (Though some teams have their star guys be the 6th man…c.f. San Antonio.) They’re good players. They’re important to the club and you suffer when they’re out for long stretches. They’re going to win a few games for you either by busting out every now and then or supporting the stars so well. Your good team tends to turn average really quickly if you don’t have the right guys in these positions. But they’re not the guys opposing teams circle on the scouting report.
Tier Four: These are your 7th and 8th…sometimes if you’re deep your 9th or (rarely!) even 10th man. They’re usually able veterans or up-and-coming firebrands. Most nights they just fill in minutes to get the starters rest.

So what players fall into what spots on the Grizzlies? Who do they have heading into the 2008-09 season that can fill these four tiers?

I am going to limit this discussion to players under contract for next season. That means no Juan Carlos Navarro, Andre Brown, Casey Jacobson or Kwame Brown discussion. I also won't venture a guess on the Grizzlies draft or free agent moves other than to say finding a Tier One player and a Tier Two or Three player would be considered a high priority for the summer shopping list.

Tier One: Not knowing what the lottery holds for the team Memphis is stuck with only one Tier One player. That is Rudy Gay and he makes the list by the slimmest of margins and only because I expect him to improve next season. Not to the extent he improved this season but improve just the same. To truly be considered a Tier One player Rudy will need to improve his rebounding, ball control and most importantly his passing. Tier One players lead teams and to do that they need to be able to get others involved by making good passes to open teammates. Rudy didn't show the ability to do that in his sophomore season.

So I put Rudy in as a Tier One player but not a solid Tier One. More of a Tier One and a Half I suppose.

Tier Two: These players are supposed to be the nightly 18-20 pt players who support the stars and are capable of leading when the Tier One is off or being shut down by the defense. I think this is where you would place Mike Miller. Although not quite an 18-20 pt scorer his assists, rebounds and court presence is a definite aid to the Tier One players he has worked with (TMac, Gasol and Gay). An argument could be made that Miller is actually more of a Tier Three player than Tier Two but I think the leadership Miller exhibits on the court moves him up the Tier.

The problem is that a team needs three players in the top 2 tiers and Memphis has only two and both are debatable in those roles. If Memphis signed a true Superstar would Rudy continue to be viewed as a Tier One player or would he slide into a Tier Two role? If Miller is moved to the bench to allow a better defender to start at the SG position would that move him to Tier Three or would he remain a Tier Two player? When people say Memphis lacks talent this is what they mean.

Tier Three: This is where the player fans will start hating on me. I put Hakim Warrick, Kyle Lowry and Mike Conley all in this Tier. By definition the Tier Three players are the rest of the starters or the 6th man and are good players. The problem is that only one of these players (Mike Conley) has to potential to move up to a Tier Two player next season. Hakim is too selfish and too weak defensively to be considered a supporting star and since he turns 26 next season I don't think those deficiencies are likely to change in his fourth season. Kyle Lowry is a bulldog PG who is most effective coming off the bench and shooting only 26% from behind the arc means against starting PG's he not only won't have his outside shot respected but defenses will be able to cheat into the lane to double interior players.

Conley is different. Mike finished the season on a very high note and has shown the ability to hit from outside far more consistently than Kyle. Conley could move into the 16-18 ppg range next season and combining that with 6-8 apg should put him squarely in the Tier Two range but that is the best case scenario and there is no guarantee he will achieve that level. Conley's rookie numbers are very similar to Tony Parker's numbers and I still believe that is the upside potential of Conley which could put him squarely in the Tier Two category. However a slow start and strong play from Lowry may limit his potential to make the big step.

Tier Four: These players abound on the Grizzlies. From Brian Cardinal to Jason Collins to Javaris Crittenton, Memphis has players who can give a big effort on any given night but don't seem prepared to make consistent contributions or aren't physically able to do it every night. Of these players only Javaris seems able to move into the Tier Three group. The good news is that his talent could possibly take him even higher. Currently Javaris biggest weakness is the logjam of players at his prefered position and his lack of an outside shot.

So where does that leave the Grizzlies. They obviously need a second Tier One player, a player to step up and produce as a Tier Two player and a stronger Tier Three player coming off the bench or starting who would pick up a specific role of rebounder. A strong rebounder (I don't care about anything else with this player) would go a long way in strengthening the defense and improving the psyche of the team.

It isn't likely that the Grizzlies will acquire two of these positions in the off-season but it is possible.

Season in Review: Javaris Crittenton

Javaris Crittenton had a tough rookie campaign. Buried on the bench in LA he rarely was given an opportunity to show what he was capable of doing. Then Chris Wallace demanded he be included in the trade for Pau Gasol (LA was rumored to want to give the Grizzlies someone else) and he was freed from purgatory known as the bench but also moved from PG to SG/SF. Quite a change for the 6-4 19 yr old from Georgia Tech.

Javaris adapted and was one of the bright spots coming off the bench in the 2nd half of the season. Teamed with Kyle Lowry and Juan Carlos Navarro, JCrit became a playmaker. Not exactly a player who set up plays but a maker of plays. He made momentum changing plays. He crashed the lane, he found open players and basically he was fun to watch, something lacking for most of the season in Memphis. The one drawback was JCrit's inability to shoot the ball. He averaged only 40% from the field and 28% from the arc with the Grizzlies. Crittenton has never been a good outside shooter and will need to work extensively on that part of his game if he wants to become a top notch player in the NBA.

JCrit is definately a player. For the first time Memphis has someone in the backcourt who has superior athletic ability. He may not have JWill's vision and creativity but he isn't far off and considering his age there is no reason to think he may not reach that level in the future (unless you are the typical Memphis fan who believes nothing good will even happen in Memphis). He hasn't developed his outside shot yet but JCrit is a far better defender than anyone else in the backcourt already and has the physical ability to overpower smaller guards and the speed to get by bigger guards. He just needs to slow the game down in his mind so he can make better decisions with the ball. JCrit often forced shots in the paint after overcommitting to the drive. This is a typical mistake for younger players and should be addressed over the off-season.

When Javaris had it going however he really was something fun to watch. In February he had 22 points at Houston. He had 23 points against the New York Knicks in early April. He scored 17 points against Chicago in a particularly promising effort combining the 7-15 shooting with 4 rebounds and 4 assists. There were glimpses of greatness but they were surrounded by periods of ineptitude as JCrit's poor shot selection and difficulty adjusting to an unfamiliar role with the team created more problems than usual for a rookie.

So what does the future hold for JCrit? It has been said that JCrit would be playing PG in the summer league this year not SG/SF. That should give the Grizzlies a chance to see him at his more natural position. He would bring size to the PG position that Memphis doesn't currently have which would be a positive? He also has all summer to work with Shooting Coach Mark Price in Atlanta (JCrit is from Atlanta) in an attempt to improve that area of his game. It is extremely fortunate that JCrit's hometown is also the Grizzlies shooting coach's hometown, both played point guard at Georgia Tech and Price knows what the team wants from JCrit. If he works hard this summer there should be dramatic improvement in that area.

Defensively JCrit just needs to earn the refs respect because the effort and ability is there. Rookies aren't going to get calls in the show and JCrit needs to stay positive during the adjustment period to learn what refs will accept and what they won't. Right now JCrit is the #3 PG, the #3 SG and the #3 SF. He is also one of the youngest players in the league who will need to earn court time to improve. This is an important time for JCrit and he has a lot of pressure on himself. As a young guard in the league and the named player wanted in a trade for a star he has to feel some pressure to perform to justify the team's desire in him. Adding to that pressure will be determining how he gets on the court next season with Conley, Lowry, Miller and Navarro currently ahead of him on the depth chart.

Javaris did get some good news on Friday as Marc Iavaroni was retained as head coach with a mandate to improve defensively. Crittenton is better defensively than Navarro or Miller already. That gives him an opportunity to break into the rotation at the shooting guard position. While not the position he has played most of his life he has enough size and speed to perform that role. The key to his future with the Grizzlies will be his ability to hit the outside shot.

Season in Review: Darko Milicic

Darko Milicic finally got his shot at starting in the NBA. It wasn't pretty. Sure Darko had moments of brilliance but he sandwiched those around nights of complete ineptitude. Injuries played a huge roll in Darko's inconsistency but it doesn't explain everything. Darko shot 43.8% from the field, 55.4% from the line and grabbed only 6.1 rebounds per game. When you are talking about a 7-0, 275 pound center those are not good numbers.

The good news is that Darko is only 22 years old. To put that in perspective, Joakim Noah is older than Darko and averaged worse numbers as well. Heck, Darko even has better hair than Noah. To assume the past 4 years of disappointment means Darko can't improve is ridiculous. Consistency on defense and better shot selection on offense can improve the tenor of discussion about Darko immensely.

Darko opened the season with a strong effort against Tim Duncan and the Spurs. His 8 pts and 7 boards belittled the defensive impact Darko had on the game. He followed that up with another solid game with 9 pts and 7 rebs against Indiana's big line of Jermaine O'Neal and Greg Foster. Then Darko really started playing. He averaged 12.2 ppg and 9 rpg over the next 5 games while playing over 30 mpg. He was coming into his own and becoming a crowd favorite. Then came the Hornets game and Darko injured his thumb. It was a bad sprain and even Marc Iavaroni said that his was the type of injury that could affect him all season. How prophetic that comment seems now.

Darko rushed his return and in the 2nd game back he landed on the side of Joel Prybilla's foot spraining his ankle and sending him back to the infirmary. Again darko rushed himself back but the drop in production was dramatic. Thru the first 7 games Darko had not scored less than 6 pts, grabbed fewer than 7 rebounds nor played less than 28 minutes in a game. For the season Darko averaged 7.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg and 23.8 mpg. The drop off was even more dramatic than the statistics indicated. Darko had 2 double-doubles in the first 7 games. He didn't have his next double-double until January 8th.

Darko seemed to be regaining his footing in March when he averaged 9.8 ppg and 7.3 rpg but that isn't the type of production people envisioned Darko having at the beginning of the year for a good month of play. By that time many Memphis fans had already given up on the season in general and Darko in particular. The losing, injuries and the fans lack of interest all seemed to weigh heavier on Darko than most of the team. When the Serbian-Kossovo situation erupted, Darko took it more personal than one would expect from a professional basketball player.

Passion. That in a nutshell describes Darko better than anything else. He seems to feel more from external forces than a multi-millionaire professional athlete should. Bad calls affect him. Fans affect. World political events affect him. Most players in the USA today can't tell show you where Serbia is on a map much less Kossovo. Darko is passionate about so many things it seems to interfere with his ability to perform at times. When Darko scores early he likely will have a strong game. If he misses his first few shots it will be a long night as Darko seems to abandon any thought of shooting after a slow start. The thing most people must remember is that Darko is young and alone in the US. It probably isn't a coincidence that Darko had one of his best games (16 pts and 11 boards) against New Jersey who also start a Serbian center (Nenad Kristic).

Darko will enter next season in the middle year of his 3 yr contract with a single motivating image on improvement.

“I just have to try to be consistent…Playing back home or playing here, I’ve never been consistent. I’ve played games where I score a lot or rebound a lot then come back the next game and not do anything,” he said. “That’s always been my problem…I don’t know why, if it’s mental, not having enough concentration, or not having enough maturation, but I play up and down all the time. If I get that straight and play consistent all the time, (the big games) can happen a lot.”

So Darko knows what the problem is. The question now is can he fix it?

Darko is the 3rd Grizzlies player (Miller and Navarro being the others) expected to tryout for their national team this summer. Serbia however does not have an automatic berth in the Olympics. To qualify Serbia must perform well in the pre-Olympic tournament held in Greece. Some people may remember that Greece defeated Serbia in last year's European Championship and Darko had some rather inflammatory remarks about the officiating after the game. I imagine Greece will be less than hospitable to Darko when he plays. Serbia was a major disappointment last summer and looks to rebound this year. If they do then Darko may be playing nearly the entire summer for his country which may not be a good thing for the Grizzlies.

Darko has flaws in his game and needs to work on improving the areas of weakness. Unfortunately he may not have a lot of free time this summer to do that.

All You Need to Know About the 2008 NBA Draft

The 2008 NBA Draft is fast approaching and the Memphis Grizzlies will once again hope the basketball gods are kind to them for the first time in franchise history and we are blessed with a franchise changing talent. At this point it doesn't matter what position that player plays, at what position he is drafted, or what college he attended. We need a franchise changer!!! Until we get one, we are just spinning our wheels.

Enough of that...Here is what you need to know for the 2008 NBA Draft:

The 2008 NBA Draft will be held on June 26, 2008 in Madison Square Garden in New York.

The deadline for college underclassman and international players under the age of 22 to declare for the NBA Draft was April 27, 2008. The NBA released the names of the players who declared on May 1st.

The players who declared for the draft have until June 16th or ten days before the draft to withdraw their names from the draft and return to school or Europe.

The Memphis Grizzlies will have the 4th most chances to win the the 2008 NBA draft lottery on May 20th. This is how it breaks down:

Miami Heat have 250 (out of 1001) chances or 25.0%
Seattle Sonics have 199 or 19.9%
Minnesota Timberwolves have 138 or 13.8%
Memphis Grizzlies have 137 or 13.7%
New York Knicks have 76 or 7.6%
Los Angeles Clippers have 75 or 7.5%
Milwaukee Bucks have 43 or 4.3%
Charlotte Bobcats have 28 or 2.8%
Chicago Bulls have 17 or 1.7%
New Jersey Nets have 11 or 1.1%
Indiana Pacers have 8 or 0.8%
Sacramento Kings have 7 or 0.7%
Portland Trailblazers have 6 or 0.6%
Golden State Warriors have 5 or 0.5%

Here is a complete breakdown on the lottery numbers.

The drawing of the ping-pong balls is conducted in private, though observed by independent auditors and representatives from each team. The results are subsequently presented in a short ceremony (typically broadcast prior to or during halftime of an NBA playoff game), in which the order of the lottery is announced in reverse order, from the fourteenth selection to the first. Representatives from each NBA franchise with a lottery pick are present at the lottery ceremony.


One week after the lottery is determined, the NBA will hold its 2nd official pre-draft camp in Orlando. The 2008 Orlando pre-draft camp will run from May 27-June 3. The rules for the pre-draft camp can be found on Draft Express. The NCAA has allowed college underclassman to have their expenses for workouts paid by the NBA which is why there are a lot of "strange" declarations by some juniors. Individual workouts, however, still are not allowed until the conclusion of the Orlando pre-draft camp on June 3rd.