The race for LeBron James

[KB21]

Lottery race as it stands now:

1. Cleveland Cavaliers (8-34)

2. Toronto Raptors (10-31: 2.5 games back)

3. Denver Nuggets (10-30: 3 games back)

4. Memphis Grizzlies (12-27: 5.5 games back)

5. Atlanta Hawks (14-27: 6.5 games back)

6. Miami Heat (14-27: 6.5 games back)

7. Chicago Bulls (15-26: 7.5 games back)

8. Los Angeles Clippers (15-24: 8.5 games back)

9. New York Knicks (16-23: 9.5 games back)

10. Golden State (17-22: 10.5 games back)

11. Seattle Supersonics (18-21: 11.5 games back)

12. Los Angeles Lakers (18-21: 11.5 games back)

13. Milwaukee Bucks (19-21: 12.5 games back)

Don't look now, but if the Grizzlies and Nuggets get on any sort of winning streak, Atlanta will be in position to have the 3rd most lottery balls in the pot. They've got a chance at the 2nd most if Toronto gets on a winning streak. I don't think they are as bad as Cleveland, but they've got two games with them coming up, so you never know.

If the Hawks land the 1st pick, LeBron James.

If the Hawks land the 2nd pick, Darko Milicik -- a 7 foot, Dirk Nowitski clone.

If the Hawks land the 3rd pick, Carmelo Anthony -- Syracuse's super freshman.

[KB21]

Denver and Memphis are 4-6 in their last 10 games. If they continue playing at that clip while the Hawks continue to play the way they have under Terry Stotts so far, both teams will have better records than the Hawks will at the end of the season, putting the Hawks at least in the 3rd spot with the 3rd most balls.

[jaywalker72]

The schedule comes back to us more, although losing to CHI makes one wonder where any wins will come, and we will likely finish close to what we did last year, putting around 30-33 wins and around the 7-8-9 post.

Since we already got lucky in 2000, going from 6 to 3 in the drawing, we will likely get nothing this year, according to the percentages...

Sad that we have to do this again this year.

[Jamil]

At this point no changes should be made. Keep Stotts, Babcock and the rest of this bunch of losers and let them continue to sink. Lebron James might turn out to be the biggest bust ever, but the Hawks have been through draft busts before.

If James even comes close to living up to the billing, he's gonna be something special. It's worth trying for because this team is going nowhere anyways.

[KB21]

To get to 30 wins, the Hawks will have to go 16-25 over the second half of the season. We are sitting at 41 games right now.

I just don't know if they have it in them to turn it around. They are playing worse now than they did with Lon as the head coach, and I honestly see nothing that makes me think they will turn the corner.

Honestly, I think this team may end up winning 23 games this season. Will that be enough to land a top 3 pick? I don't know.