Nets fall to third in lottery; Wizards get top pick

Donnie Walsh often refers to the lush party thrown by the NBA for the annual draft lottery as "a convention for losers.''

To the relief of the Knicks, they weren't the biggest loser this year. And the Nets weren't the biggest winners.

And still no one knows where LeBron James will end up.

The best odds in the lottery were on the Nets, who had the league's worst record at 12-70, but they fell to the third overall position as the Washington Wizards made the big leap from the fifth slot to first overall. New Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, who before the lottery drawing talked about the "simple'' plan to "turn Knicks fans into Nets fans,'' was expressionless when the Nets placard was revealed at No. 3.

Ted Leonsis, the Washington Capitals owner who is close to completing a majority share purchase of the Wizards, would not commit to a selection with the pick, though the consensus is that Kentucky guard John Wall is the top player in the draft. Ohio State guard Evan Turner and Georgia Tech power forward Derrick Favors round out the top three players.

The Philadelphia 76ers landed in the No. 2 spot, followed by the Nets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings. The Knicks, with no first-round selection, have two second-round picks at No. 38 and 39.

Their first-round position, which is owned by the Utah Jazz, stayed locked in at the ninth overall spot.

"It would have struck me if [the Jazz] went up to the No. 1 spot,'' Walsh said from his Manhattan apartment last night. "But I know the odds of that happening are very slim.''

There was great speculation leading up to the draft that the lottery results could impact free agency, to the extent that if the Nets had maintained the top spot and had the rights to draft Wall, perhaps James would view the Brooklyn-bound franchise more favorably than he would regard the Knicks.

The speculation has been so rampant since James and the Cavaliers were eliminated from the playoffs last week that Walsh admitted he had gotten caught up in it.

"I did earlier, because then it was new and I was like, 'Oh jeez,''' Walsh said. "But then when I check it out I don't know if it's valid. I realize there are a lot of people out there talking and some of them aren't even involved with the free agents. They're just trying to confuse everything.''

There is six weeks to go before July 1, when the Knicks get that chance to officially recruit James and other high-end free agents. Last night's results did nothing to debilitate the Knicks' chances, but Walsh still doesn't see any assurance in that.

"I don't use the word confident,'' he said. "I'm just playing this out.''

Prokhorov, via video on the Nets website Tuesday, set a five-year window to win a championship. The Russian billionaire was then tested by ESPN reporter Heather Cox on the air when she asked him how he planned to lure James to the Nets.

"Really, I follow the rules of the NBA,'' Prokhorov replied, in reference to the league's strict tampering rules. "That's why I'm not rich enough to pay the penalties.''

The Dolan family owns controlling interests in the Knicks, MSG and Cablevision. Cablevision owns Newsday.