Clippers Slip Back to Their Losing Ways in NBA Draft Lottery

By LONNIE WHITE

May 23, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Hoping to gain the No. 1 overall draft pick for the second year in a row, the Clippers were left disappointed Saturday when the franchise ended up with the No. 4 pick in this year’s NBA lottery.

After finishing the season with the second-worst record (9-41) in the league, the Clippers--who picked Michael Olowokandi with last year’s overall pick--ended up a lottery loser as they slid down two places for the June 30 draft.

Chicago, which had the league’s third-worst record at 13-37, drew the No. 1 pick, followed by Vancouver, which had the league’s worst record at 8-42. The surprise of the lottery was Charlotte, which barely missed qualifying for the playoffs with a 26-24 record but ended up with the third pick overall.

“We could have done a little bit better,” said Clipper Coach Chris Ford, who represented the franchise at the NBA lottery held at Secaucus, N.J.

Based on last season’s records, the Bulls had a 15.7% chance of gaining the top pick under the league’s weighted lottery-ball system. The Clippers had a 20% chance of getting the first pick and Vancouver 25%.

The Clippers also had a 17.22% chance of at least drafting within the top three positions, compared to Charlotte’s 0.73% chance. The worst the Clippers could have done was draft fifth under league rules, which prohibits franchises from dropping more than three places.

Toronto, which owns the rights to Denver’s first-round choice because of a trade for Chauncey Billups, will draft No. 5 using the Nuggets’ pick. The Raptors also have the 12th pick.

Minnesota will draft No. 6 using a pick acquired from New Jersey in the trade that sent Stephon Marbury to the Nets. Washington will draft seventh, followed by Boston, Phoenix, Golden State, Cleveland, Toronto and Seattle. Cleveland has the right to take Boston’s pick, and it is likely the Cavaliers will exercise that option.

Ford downplayed the Clippers’ bad luck by pointing out that this will not be a typical draft. Early indications from most experts say that this year’s draft has some solid players, but may not have any future superstars. UCLA’s Baron Davis, Rhode Island’s Lamar Odom, Maryland’s Steve Francis, Miami of Ohio’s Wally Szczerbiak and Duke’s Elton Brand and Corey Maggette are considered to be the top players available.

Ford and Elgin Baylor, vice president of basketball operations, plan to start bringing in draft prospects for workouts as early as next week. But Ford understands the problem they may face by dropping two places in the draft.

“What usually happens is that some players [considered heads and shoulders above the rest] won’t even come in and work out for you. . . . that happened when I coached at Milwaukee,” Ford said. “We dropped down a few spots and players didn’t want to work out because they didn’t think they’d be around when we drafted. It helps that this year there’s no definite No. 1 pick right now.”

Although the Clippers have openly been on the market for a point guard the last few years and the nucleus of their rebuilding already includes power forward Maurice Taylor and Olowokandi inside, Ford would not hint on which direction the Clippers will go in the draft because the team has eight free agents on the roster.

“We’ll have to see what players are left when we [draft],” Ford said. “We’ll look at every position. Because of the possibilities of what free agents we may lose, we have to make sure and look at all positions.”

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Pecking Order

The picks the participating teams got in Saturday’s NBA draft lottery:

1. Chicago

2. Vancouver

3. Charlotte

4. Clippers

5. Toronto (from Denver)

6. Minnesota (from New Jersey)

7. Washington

8. Boston

9. Phoenix