Sam Smith

With the conference finals under way, it's down to four teams to be this year's NBA champion.

And after Tuesday's NBA draft lottery, the Portland Trail Blazers could very likely play for a championship sometime in the next five or six years.

That's because for the first time this decade it appears the No. 1 pick will be a true franchise center in Ohio State's Greg Oden.

I know, I know, there was Yao Ming in 2002, though I don't see him as the classic center to build a winner around.

But Oden, a freshman at Ohio State, looks like that guy. He is virtually certain to be the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft, and if history plays out in the NBA as it always has, the team that drafts Oden should be playing for a championship before too long. And that's Portland.

Every time there has been a franchise center at the top of the NBA draft, that team has played for or become a champion.

The last one was Tim Duncan in 1997, and he is working on his fourth championship this spring with the Spurs. Shaquille O'Neal came in 1992, and he got to the finals in 1995 and won his first title in 2000. Before that there was David Robinson in 1987, and he finally got one with Duncan in 1999. There was Patrick Ewing in 1985, and his Knicks were held off by Michael Jordan until getting to the finals with Jordan not playing in 1994.

There was Hakeem Olajuwon in 1984, and his Rockets were in the finals by 1986 and back-to- back champions in the mid-1990s.

And there were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Walton and Bill Russell.

There were centers at the top of the draft, like Bob Lanier, Mychal Thompson, Joe Barry Carroll and Brad Daugherty. But no one was about to confuse them with elite franchise players.

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Which is why Tuesday was perhaps the most important day in the history of several franchises. It also carried with it the fate of various franchises.

Memphis, which had the best odds of selecting the No. 1 pick, missed out on No. 1. Now it may very well be sold and move from Memphis.

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Jobs in Boston and Milwaukee may be toast after the Celtics and Bucks landed in the No. 5 and 6 spots, but Seattle may very well reverse its fortunes with the No. 2 pick. That goes double for Portland.

There are some terrific players in this draft, which is lining up as potentially one of the best, and ranking with 2003 for the best in this decade.

But with the drop-off after the top two picks, that team will need a parachute.