NBA Draft lottery

FOR the second consecutive year, the Cleveland Cavaliers topped the NBA draft lottery yesterday and will select No. 1 overall in the 2014 NBA draft next month.

The Cavaliers, who registered a 33-49 record during the regular wars, only had a ninth-highest chance (1.7 percent) of winning the lottery (featuring the non-playoff teams or the teams that owned their first-round draft choices) but they leapfrogged to No. 1 for the third time in four years.

A year ago, Cleveland chose Anthony Harris Bennett of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas with the first overall selection but the 6-foot-8 power forward, the first Canadian ever to be drafted No. 1 overall in NBA history, struggled during his rookie season (2013-14), averaging just 4.2 points and 3.0 rebounds in 52 games off the bench.

In 2011, the Wine City squad corralled playmaker Kyrie Andrew Irving at No. 1 and the Melbourne-born product of Duke University responded with an NBA Rookie of the Year performance (2011-12).

In NBA draft history, Cleveland picked first overall a total of six times. After Cleveland, the order of the 2014 draft (through the first 14) is as follows: 2-Milwaukee (the team with the highest chance of gaining the first pick at 25 percent due to its NBA-worst 15-67 record), 3-Philadelphia (second-worst mark at 19-63 with 19.9-percent chance at No. 1), 4-Orlando (third-worst card at 23-59 with a 15.6-percent chance at No. 1), 5-Utah, 6-Boston, 7-LA Lakers, 8-Sacramento, 9-Charlotte (which officially became the Hornets yesterday, first-rounder acquired from Detroit in a previous trade), 10-Philadelphia (first-rounder obtained from New Orleans), 11-Denver, 12-Orlando (first-rounder acquired from Denver via New York), 13-Minnesota and 14-Phoenix.

Among the collegiate players projected to go early in the draft include University of Kansas’s 7-foot Cameroonian Joel Hans Embiid (a former volleyball player who started playing basketball in 2011, he missed the 2014 NCAA tournament due to a stress fracture in his back), Embiid’s 6-foot-8 Jayhawks teammate Andrew Christian Wiggins (born in Toronto, Canada), Duke University’s 6-foot-9 small forward Jabari Ali Parker (son of former NBA journeyman Sonny Parker), University of Kentucky’s 6-foot-9 power forward Julius Randle and Australia’s 6-foot-6 combo guard Dante Exum.

Except for the Melbourne-born Exum, all the above players are one-and-done U.S. college products. Exum, who turns 19 in July, did not play college ball in Down Under.

During his heyday, he was simply a role-playing guard who at crucial times would connect on a triple for his team. Regardless, newly-minted Golden State Warriors head coach Stephen Douglas (Steve) Kerr has cemented his place in the National Basketball Association (NBA) playoff record books.

Kerr is one of only two men in NBA history to earn a league championship ring in consecutive seasons with different franchises, the other being Frank (Pep) Saul (1951 Rochester Royals/1952-1953-1954 Minneapolis Lakers).

Kerr lightened up the load of Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in snaring three straight titles with the Chicago Bulls from 1996-98 and then made life easier for superstars Tim Duncan and Tony Parker during the San Antonio Spurs’ title finishes in 1999 and 2003.

Additionally, Kerr is one of only 11 players in league annals to win four straight championships. Kerr quit his work as an NBA television color commentator to accept a five-year, $25-million head coaching job with the Warriors last May 14.

For nearly two months (since mid-March), he also was heavily courted by newly-hired New York president Phil Jackson for the same position with the Knicks following the sacking of Mike Woodson. Jackson, who retired from X-ing and  0-ing in May 2011 as the winningest head coach in NBA history with 11 championships, had mentored Kerr during his  title-winning years with the Bulls.

He was out of the NBA scene for nearly three years when he agreed to become the Knicks president with full basketball decision powers last March 18 on a mind-boggling $60-million pact over five years – the largest ever for a team executive position.

Many thought Kerr would eventually latch on with the Knicks because of his longstanding relationship with Jackson but the winds changed when Golden State’s head coaching post became vacant following the dismissal of Mark Jackson in the wake of mounting tension between him and the team owners and in spite of a playoff-qualifying 51-31 campaign, the Warriors’ best ledger since a 55-27 finish in 1991-92.

Golden State, which will soon revert to its old San Francisco name, looked to replace the Bible-reading, straight forward-talking Jackson with once idle Stan Van Gundy or Kerr.

However, Van Gundy was quick to turn down the Warriors’ offer.  He instead struck a deal with the Detroit Pistons to become their head coach (first-year coach Maurice Cheeks was fired just 50 games into the season and interim coach John Loyer may be reassigned as he remains under contract with the Motor City unit for 2014-15) and president of basketball operations (succeeding longtime executive Joe Dumars, who resigned in April) with a five-year deal worth an estimated $35 million.

That left Golden State to revisit its interest on Kerr since the latter was still dilly-dallying whether to join Jackson in Gotham City.
Kerr, who spent three seasons as general manager of the Phoenix Suns before stepping down in 2010, has earlier stated he prefers to stay in the West Coast area to be close to his family (daughter plays volleyball at the University of California, oldest son attends college in San Diego, and the youngest is a high school junior there).

He is a Southern California native and has lived in San Diego for years. Despite their relationship, Jackson allegedly tried to lowball Kerr with an initial three-year, $13.2-million offer, partly maybe because he has had no previous NBA coaching experience.

And when Golden State raised the ante, the Knicks added another year for $4.4 million (or $17.6 million total). By then it was too late as Kerr, who turns 49 in September, had already committed to join the Warriors.

And Jackson is back to head coach-hunting after the Knicks’ runaway No. 1 prospect walked away abruptly. Among the new candidates for the high-profile Knicks’ coaching job are former NBA head coaches Mike Dunleavy and Kurt Rambis, Los Angeles Clippers assistant coach Tyronn Lue, current L.A. D-Fenders bench strategist Luke Walton and current Oklahoma City dinosaur Derek Fisher.