Hahn's NBA Insider: For many teams, Wall might not be No. 1 pick

John Wall could be by far the most talented prospect in the upcoming NBA draft, yet is it possible he won't be the first overall pick?

The Nets' awful record this season will earn them the most chances to win the NBA lottery in May. But you might be amazed to know that since the weighted lottery system was introduced in 1990, the team with the worst record has won the top pick a total of three times.

And you thought the season couldn't get any worse for New Jersey.

That leaves several other candidates to consider, starting with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who spent two top 10 picks last year on point guards, including one, Ricky Rubio, who remains in Europe. Would general manager David Kahn go for the trifecta?

One would think that if the Wolves did win the lottery, his first call should be to Donnie Walsh to discuss granting Rubio's wish to become a Knick. (How quickly do you think he would try to get out of that FC Barcelona contract, which technically doesn't grant him an opt-out until 2012?)

But what about some of the other lottery-bound teams? The Golden State Warriors have Rookie of the Year candidate Stephen Curry. But if the Warriors - who are in the midst of being sold - consider Wall a more valuable option, there's no doubt Walsh would gladly take a call from them about making Curry's pre-draft dream come true.

The desperate Hornets will be in the lottery, but they have All-Star Chris Paul and a very talented rookie point guard in Darren Collison - and, if you ask us, their own major decision to make in that regard. (I continue to stress that is a situation to watch.) The Bulls have Derrick Rose, the No. 1 pick from two years ago.

And then there is the Utah Jazz, which - look away, Knicks fans - owns the Knicks' pick by way of the Phoenix Suns by way of the Stephon Marbury trade in January 2004. The Jazz has an All-Star in Deron Williams running the point, so Utah likely also would not have a reason to consider Wall.

Surely this is a draft that needs to be won by the 76ers, Pistons or Wizards, the latter of whom would then be compelled to trade Gilbert Arenas.

But, really, the Nets desperately need it themselves. For starters, they then could trade Devin Harris (three years, $26.7 million left on his contract) to fill in the many other areas of need on the roster. The prospect of landing Wall also would generate a lot more interest in the franchise's coaching vacancy.

Transferring the team's ownership to Mikhail Prokhorov is expected to be resolved by late April, and it is believed Prokhorov will strongly consider bringing in Jerry Colangelo to oversee running the franchise. The first call will be to Mike Krzyzewski. John Calipari, Wall's current coach at Kentucky, likely would be holding on Line 2.

Crawford finally does it

When the Atlanta Hawks clinched their second straight playoff berth Wednesday, there wasn't much cause for celebration. But for one Hawk, it was a momentous personal achievement that signified the end of a record he could do without.

Jamal Crawford had been the league's most tenured player to have never played on a playoff team. He went nine seasons - 667 games - without ever clinching a playoff berth.

So you can understand why he didn't want to touch that T-shirt that hung in each stall in the Hawks' locker room to commemorate the event. The shirts read, simply, "Clinched." Crawford just stared at it and said, "I think I'll just leave it there for a while."

Crawford, a former Knick who wrote a blog for Newsday.com before he was traded on Nov. 21, 2008, said he would write one more for us after he finally made the playoffs. Jamal, you now owe us a blog.

Problems in Portland

While the Trail Blazers remain one of the league's best young teams, their front office is in disarray. The firing of team executive Tom Penn, who was GM Kevin Pritchard's right-hand man, because of philosophical differences has led to concern that Pritchard could be next.

Team owner Paul Allen did little to quell this concern when, instead of personally addressing the media, he issued a three-paragraph statement that hardly offered a strong endorsement for his GM.

"We are not going to make any more long-term decisions today," the statement read. "When the season ends, we will evaluate how best to move the Trail Blazers forward."

Allen said he supports "everyone who works for me, including Kevin Pritchard, and that's why he's our general manager."

Pritchard has been a major reason why the franchise turned itself around from the "Jail Blazers" days to today; with star Brandon Roy, the Blazers have some of the best young talent in the league. The team has been overwhelmed by injuries this season and yet still firmly holds the final playoff spot in the West.

But there has been some criticism that Pritchard hasn't built enough around Roy to advance the team beyond playoff-contending status (last season was the Trail Blazers' first playoff appearance in six years).

And then there's the hindsight analysis that Pritchard should have chosen MVP candidate Kevin Durant instead of injury-plagued center Greg Oden with the first pick in the 2007 draft.

If this is enough to convince Allen to make a change, Pritchard certainly has done enough in his first experience as an NBA GM to attract a great deal of interest around the league.