Wall to Washington?

As for big-name free agents such as Mister James, the Wizards do have cap room to go along with the No. 1 pick. Should the District be considered a premier destination for one of them?

"We'll see," Grunfeld demurred. "When you have the No 1 pick, it's a great start. We have some pieces in place and [we'll] see how free agency goes."

Of course, such a scenario had been mentioned for the New Jersey Nets, who had a 25 percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick after trudging their way to a 12-70 season. They have copious cap space. They have a new, billionaire owner, Mikhail Prokhorov, who radiates confidence.

Irina Pavlova, president of ONEXIM Sports and Entertainment, the holding company Prokhorov uses to run the Nets, was their draw room representative. The Stanford business school grad, who in the past has lived and worked in the United States, was not only at her first lottery, but seeing her first lottery. She didn't have a lucky charm with her. She didn't think Prokhorov had one either.

"I don't think he's the type," Pavlova said.

Prokhorov seems to be a guy whose fortune can purchase luck. Yet in a string of misfortune that underlined their season of futility, the Nets barely held on to the third pick. After the Wizards won Lady Luck's hand, the Philadelphia 76ers were next on her dance card with the numbers 13-8-5-7.

Now all that was left was the No. 3 pick. NBA president Joel Litvin then read the numbers as they came out of the tumbler: 12, 4, 9, 7.

"Washington," Dershowitz announced.

Grunfeld chuckled. He could. The other 11 reps shifted in their seats as the balls went back into the tumbler. They came back out: 7-12-6-5.

"Washington," Dershowitz said again.

A buzz was building. The Wizards, who hadn't had any luck during the season, seemingly had all the luck in the world. The Nets, whose number sequences all featured the No. 1, waited for fortune -- who frowned upon them all season -- to smile at them for a change. Hell, the Nets would take a passing glance. But more than anything, they'd take the ping pong ball with the one on it.

"One," Litvin called. "Nine. Eight. Seven."

"New Jersey," Dershowitz said.

And that was it. The fortunes of three NBA franchises had changed in a matter of moments and everyone in the room had 90 minutes to kill before the televised portion of the lottery completed.

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