Wednesday night's NBA draft lottery is about luck, numbers and destiny.
The Charlotte Bobcats hope to be just the third team in the 18 years the NBA has used the current format to turn the worst record into the top pick. The Cleveland Cavaliers did that with LeBron James in 2003 and the Orlando Magic did it with Dwight Howard in 2004.
The other 15 worst teams slipped to the second, third or fourth slot under the rules of the weighted lottery of non-playoff teams. This year there's extra incentive to grab the top pick because Kentucky big man Anthony Davis is considered one of those can't-miss prospects who caused the lottery to be invented.
Back in 1984, the league had a perception problem that teams might be tanking games to maximize their chances of ending up with center Hakeem Olajuwon. The draft lottery is intended to negate that perception.
So what happens if the Bobcats don't get the top pick? As prominent player-agent David Falk put it, this is a one-player draft where the difference between picks 2 through 8 might be "minuscule. "
With that in mind, here's a look at the players the Bobcats might choose from, whichever pick they get, in the June 28 draft:
Led Kentucky to the national championship and was the consensus national player of the year. Averaged 14.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.7 blocks in his only college season.
At worst, Davis instantly affects games as a rebounder/shot blocker on a Bobcats team that gave up far too many baskets at the rim. At best he's so much more. He grew up a guard before a 7-inch growth spurt. He has huge upside offensively, with the skill to dribble, pass and make jump shots with range. He resembles Boston's Kevin Garnett, as far as a player who could guard centers, yet go out on the perimeter like a small forward.
Very little. He needs to add bulk and strength to his frame to hold up physically against bulky NBA big men. But his personality – ferocious, yet calm – reflects a guy who isn't easily intimidated.
He led Kansas to the national championship game before losing to Kentucky. He averaged 17.9 points and 11.8 rebounds this season.
He's a rugged, mature guy – a great teammate who has weathered hard times (the sudden death of his mother and caring for a younger sister back home in Washington, D.C.. One of former coach Paul Silas' biggest concerns about the Bobcats was a relative lack of toughness. This guy epitomizes tough – physically and mentally.
Does he have limited potential to improve? Remember how Emeka Okafor was ready to help right away as a rookie, but that was about the ceiling for him? This could be a similar circumstance.
He was second only to Davis in his impact on Kentucky's national championship team. He averaged 11.9 points and 7.4 rebounds.
He has an intensity and a defensive orientation that would remind Bobcats fans of Gerald Wallace. The guy is impressive in the fast break, filling lanes and finishing decisively. Like Wallace, you have no choice but to foul him once he gets up momentum toward the rim.
It's always a risk to use a high draft pick on a player whose skill set doesn't match the position his height dictates. He isn't a jump-shooter or a ball-handler to the extent you need to be to excel as an NBA small forward.
He averaged 10.0 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots.
His measurables scream, "NBA center," and the Bobcats certainly are in the market for one of those. (Silas thinks Bismack Biyombo's future is at power forward, where he wouldn't give away so much height and weight on a regular basis.
Drummond's one college season was marked by underachievement and inconsistency. With Connecticut likely barred from the NCAA and Big East tournaments next season (for falling short of academic standards, you can see why he left, but he's a long way from a refined NBA prospect.
He averaged 17.1 points and 5.2 rebounds in a season in which the Tar Heels fell short of their Final Four expectations.
He is one of college basketball's better shooters and dependable scoring is still the skill valued most by NBA teams. Obviously the Bobcats need a young small forward in the pipeline.
He's not good off the dribble and he's limited in how to create his own shot. Great players' games evolve and expand. Barnes' game seemed to stagnate.
He averaged 14.8 points and 6.7 rebounds. Remarkably he blocked nearly a shot per game (0.8 average as a 6-4 wing player.
He's a shooter with good mechanics who also runs the floor and defends, particularly in up-tempo situations. He's a ball-hawk in the passing lanes, which is often the best thing a shooting guard can do in team defense.
For a guy who loves to take long jumpers, he's only a 34 percent shooter outside the college 3-point line. That's not bad, but it's not what you expect from a guy whose shooting range (he took 186 3s in his only college season needs to be his most dependable asset.
He averaged 17.7 points and 4.9 rebounds. The Huskies, coming off a national championship in 2011, underachieved greatly for a team with two likely top-10 picks.
Lamb shot 48 percent from the field when defenses were making him their first priority. He has nearly a 7-foot-1 wingspan, a valuable physical trait if you're looking to knock down passes or finish over taller players at the rim.
He's passive. At the end of some big games, he didn't demand the ball in situations where he obviously should have wanted to decide a game.
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