If Karma Rules the NBA Draft Lottery

By theory, the NBA Draft Lottery (tonight at 7:30 p.m. Eastern) is left to randomness. But what if basketball karma dictated the results? Close your eyes and imagine such a world ...

#1 Pick: New York Knicks. James Dolan has done everything (other than self-flagellation) required by the karmic standard to rectify the painful past for his franchise: he kicked Isiah Thomas downstairs and out of sight, he gave a new face complete control of the operation, and he paid a ton of cash to the most exciting coach in the sport, a creative fellow who could make watching even Eddy Curry enjoyable. Of course, Dolan exists as a crime against basketball ... so consider this a karmic thank-you to Dolan for keeping his head out of his ass for a single month (hard work, surely), as well as a heavenly blessing to all those beat-up Knicks fans out there.

#2 Pick: Los Angeles Clippers. Again, the owner of the franchise deserves few plaudits. By several accounts, Donald Sterling is a bit of a scumbag. But these poor Clippers fans! The 2006 postseason was not salvation -- it was a taste of the high life offered solely to make the Evil Empire's return to the top even more painful to watch. Injuries galore, decades of misery ... the Clippers deserve a break.

#3 Pick: Sacramento Kings. Faced with the sincere opportunity to tank two years in a row, the Kings have instead played spoiler and asserted their role in playoff seeding. Also, unlike Clay Bennett, the Maloofs have (shock!) worked with the locals to (awe!) cooperate in building a privately-financed arena. Though the league has taken the lead, the Maloofs might be writing the playbook on how the NBA can survive in a small market without being as good as the Spurs.

Honorable mentions: Minnesota (for refusing to tank and rebuilding the right way), Portland (the feel-good team of the decade ... though one might think their positive mojo has been used up).

Join NBA FanHouse at 7 p.m. Eastern for a live blog of the lottery, hosted by Brett Edwards.