2008 NBA Draft: Which Team Most Needs the Lottery Win?

Speaking of rebuilding an image, we have the New York Knicks. Under new leadership and a new coach, the Knicks are looking to ditch their overpaid, underachieving former stars and build around their young players. Adding a truly promising rookie would go a long way towards accelerating the rebuilding process.

The Knicks actually do have a couple important pieces in Jamal Crawford and David Lee. Crawford is the team’s shooting guard of the future. Lee is beloved in New York, and is the team’s heart and soul. But even he is no Rose.

Rose is the perfect fit in new coach Mike D’Antoni’s offense, which relies on excellent point guard play. The Knicks could be relatively successful with a great point guard. But they have a very uncertain future without one.

2. New Jersey Nets (1.1)

As poor a predicament as the Knicks may find themselves in, the Nets are in even worse shape. Their old nucleus of Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, and Richard Jefferson is just that—old. Kidd is gone now, Carter has stopped trying, and Jefferson is a shell of his former self.

All the Nets have beyond Carter and Jefferson—and at this point both players are far removed from reliable building blocks for the future—are Devin Harris and rookie Sean Williams.

Harris, whom the Nets acquired for Kidd, is actually a pretty good point guard, but who is going to score for this team? The Nets need Beasley. They need him badly.

1. Sacramento Kings (0.7)

Here we are—the team with the worst future outlook in the entire NBA. Like the Nets, the Kings can look back happily on earlier days, but the golden age of Chris Webber and Mike Bibby is long gone.

And there is suddenly very little left. Ron Artest already has quite a few miles on him and is not the player he used to be. Kevin Martin will get his twenty points, but he is not someone to build a team around. Shelden Williams is not the player anyone thought or hoped he would be when he left Duke.

More than any other team, the Kings have nobody to build around. Unless they land Rose or Beasley, the future of basketball in Sacramento looks pretty grim. With a 0.7 percent chance of winning their lottery, it looks pretty grim indeed.

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