NBA Draft 2012: How Winning the Anthony Davis Lottery Would Change Nets' Fortune

The New Jersey Nets are a few lucky Ping-Pong ball bounces away from drastically changing their fortunes and greatly improving their future.

Like most lotto winners in this country, the organization has a chance to alter their destiny by winning the 2012 NBA draft lottery and selecting Anthony Davis with the No. 1 overall pick.

Right now, the Nets have just a 5.4 percent shot at landing the top pick; but losing their next four games against the Knicks, Bucks, 76ers and Raptors would most likely improve those odds.

If they stay locked in their current spot and the lottery concludes with no surprises, the franchise would have to forfeit the No. 6 pick to the Trail Blazers as part of the Gerald Wallace trade (Mehmet Okur, Shawne Williams and their top-three protected first-round selection went to Portland in exchange for the forward).

This would set them back years, as Deron Williams and Gerald Wallace would likely skip town and the team moves to Brooklyn with Brook Lopez as their top star.

That gloomy outlook can be cast aside if the Nets win Davis.

The 6’10”, 220-pound stud out of Kentucky would force D-Will to reconsider leaving and influence Crash to opt in for the 2012-13 season or sign an extension. Davis puts a shot blocking force in the frontcourt to pair with the defensively inept Lopez, who seems scared of rebounds (he’s averaging just 3.6 per game this season despite being seven feet tall).

A core of Williams, Wallace, Lopez, Davis and MarShon Brooks is a lot better, will sell a bunch more tickets and has a chance to compete in the East as opposed to Lopez, Brooks and a bunch of question marks—a roster that will certainly end up with a trip to the 2013 lottery.

The team needs to sacrifice their last few games and fans must start praying that the lottery gods are kind to them this offseason. If not, this franchise is doomed for the foreseeable future.