Ira Winderman

Well, that changed everything.

While the Class of 2009 hardly blows the scouts away, Tuesday's NBA Draft lottery did a good enough job of that.

The fallout from the random-but-weighted drawing that determines the draft seedings of the 14 non-playoff teams?

• Reggie Theus is on his way back as Kings coach, because the team is paying him anyway, and it certainly isn't going anywhere.
• Flip Saunders is feverishly searching for an escape clause on his still-drying Wizards coaching contract.
• And Donald T. Sterling is poised to once again name Michael Olowokandi as the Clippers' No. 1 overall selection.

No, it wasn't quite that bad. But as far as the caprice of bouncing balls go, this was quite the stunner.

Where to start?

Probably at the top, where the NBA's most feeble front office gets a chance to get it wrong again.

Understand, you would have been hard pressed to find a single scout Tuesday who would go against Oklahoma power forward Blake Griffin as the No. 1 overall selection in the June 25 draft.

But these are the Clippers, where, at worst, the ghost of Elgin Baylor still looms.

So probably sometime after convincing Sterling that you cannot again draft Olowokandi at No. 1, as the team did in 1998, Clippers penny-pinchers were debating how Griffin would fit in with Zach Randolph still on the books for more than $16 million for each of the next two seasons.

Granted, any sane organization quickly returns to reason, and recognizes that you don’t predicate your future on Zach Randolph after moving up from the No. 3 lottery seed to the No. 1 selection.

But these are the Clippers, so you well could hear the whispers of Baron Davis being shipped back to Golden State turn into bona fide rumblings. That would open the door for Ricky Rubio, Spain's supposed Pete Maravich clone, to take over the point.

Ultimately figure on sanity prevailing and the best player in the draft, Griffin, going to Tuesday's luckiest at the lottery, Donald T.'s penchant for the bizarre notwithstanding.

As for the unluckiest, Tuesday turned into a replay of the 2008-09 season for the Kings and Wizards, essentially with each suffering three more losses.

That's the maximum number of spots a team can fall in the lottery, and that's exactly the tumble sustained by the worst teams in each conference.

Seeded first in the lottery, league-worst Sacramento fell to No. 4.

No matter how you try to put the best face on this one, it was a devastating result for a Western Conference bottom feeder seeking not only a new coach but also a new arena.

Knowing the Kings, they'll probably draft another power forward.

But why would Eddie Jordan even consider a Sacramento coaching reunion, when he otherwise is positioned to take over a far more talented Philadelphia roster?

In the end, the Kings remain little more than a lounge act for the Maloofs. Only now, the best they can offer is the guy spinning plates on sticks.

As for the lottery's other ultimate loser, Washington also fell the maximum three spots, to No. 5.

While plenty of perimeter types should be there for the taking at that spot, Griffin won't, Rubio won't, and most likely neither will shot-blocking Hasheem Thabeet.

Entering the process, the East-worst Wizards were positioned to become in 2009-10 what the Heat became this past season, a team regaining the services of a high-scoring guard from injury (in their case with Gilbert Arenas playing the role of Dwyane Wade), as well as one on the precipice of landing an elite draft pick. Alas, Griffin will not be their version of Michael Beasley. Instead, the Wizards are staring square in the face of this year's versions of Joe Alexander.

No, this is not what Saunders signed on for. This time, he didn't leave the lottery with Kevin Garnett, as he did with the Timberwolves in 1995. Suddenly, those months dealing with the mood swings of Rasheed Wallace might come to be known as the good old days for Saunders.

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