By Paul Levine May 24, 2006, 10:07 GMT
Los Angeles - The lucky bounce of the ping pong balls in Tuesday's NBA draft lottery could be signaling a move from out of the dark for the lowly Toronto Raptors, who won the rights to the top pick in next month's draft.
Toronto had the fifth-best chance of winning the number-one pick of the 14 teams that failed to qualify for the playoffs, but when outgoing NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik opened the last envelope, which meant they jumped past favourites Portland, Chicago and Atlanta, recently named Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo was overjoyed.
'I'm excited,' said Colangelo, who helped retool the highly successful Phoenix Suns before leaving in February. 'It's been a challenge so far to go to a new organization, embrace it and be embraced.
'For us to have this kind of luck, I think it's a sign of a reversal of fortune going forward. It's a new day for the Toronto Raptors.'
Colangelo was hired to rebuild the Raptors (27-55) and this is a step in the right direction.
'We're a very good young team, probably one of the most exciting young teams in the league, but we've got a lot of improvement to show,' he said. 'I think we have our work cut out, but I think this will certainly help.'
Colangelo wouldn't tip his hand about which of the players he favoured, only saying, 'I think you have to take the best available player that's going to be a good long-term piece for the Toronto Raptors.'
The Chicago Bulls drew the number-two pick, acquired as part of the compensation from New York via last summer's trade of Eddy Curry and Antonio Davis in exchange for Tim Thomas, Michael Sweetney and Jermaine Jackson.
The Bulls gave the Miami Heat a tough opening-round series and will look to address a size issue.
'We've got a good young core, and we like the way our guys played,' Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson said. 'But we need size. We need some athleticism.'
Charlotte will pick number three, but Portland, which had the worst record (21-61) and the best chance at winning the top selection (25 per cent), settled for the number-four pick.
'I'd rather be picking number one, but we're going to get a good young player at four,' Portland president Steve Patterson said. 'There are a lot of players in the draft who can help us.'
The rest of the lottery held true to form with Atlanta, Minnesota, Boston, Houston, Golden State, Seattle, Orlando, New Orleans, Philadelphia and Utah rounding out picks five through 14.
This years' draft was expected to produce a top crop of prospects, headed by Gonzaga's high-scoring forward Adam Morrison, Texas centre Lamarcus Aldridge, Tyrus Banks of Louisiana State, Connecticut forward Rudy Gay and Bradley centre Patrick O'Bryant.
There are 30 international players who have declared themselves eligible for the June 28 draft, including Andrea Bargnani of Italy; Spain's Rudy Fernandez and Tiago Splitter; Oleksiy Pecherov, who is playing in France; and 2.13-metre Saer Sene, playing in Belgium.
Under the NBA's new collective-bargaining agreement, this is the first year high-school players won't be eligible for the draft.
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