Lady luck eludes Kings at NBA draft lottery

Margie Parilo was lucky, to be sure. Just not lucky enough.

In the NBA draft lottery in Secaucus, N.J., on Tuesday, the Kings season-ticket holder, who had been selected to represent her favorite team, watched as the predictable happened. The Kings, who had the league's 12th-worst record last season, were given the No. 12 pick.

Not surprisingly, the 93.55 percent chance won out over the combined chance of 2.54 percent chance of landing in the top three. The Kings also have two second-round picks (Nos. 42 and 43).

As Parilo sat next to Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird and New Jersey Nets partial owner/rapper Jay-Z and was featured heavily on the nationally televised broadcast, 28 members of her family convened at Chris Webber's Center Court restaurant in Natomas to root her on. When the Kings' pick was announced, her father, Bob, slumped in his chair and muttered, "Oh well," to his wife, Jean.

The optimism, however, wasn't entirely gone.

"With (basketball president) Geoff Petrie, you know we're going to get a player at 12 who can play in the league," team president John Thomas said at the event. "Look at Spencer (Hawes), look at Kevin (Martin), look at 'Cisco' (Francisco García). You know Geoff is going to bring someone in here to be an exciting addition to the team."

The winner of the top pick in the June 26 NBA draft was a stunner. Chicago beat the odds despite finishing with the ninth-worst record in the league and having entered with a 1.7 percent chance of picking first. It was a wonder television cameras didn't immediately pan to the face of recent New York hire Mike D'Antoni, the former Phoenix coach who chose the Knicks job over that of the Bulls this month and couldn't be blamed for regretting the decision in light of the latest development.

The second pick went to Miami, which had the league's worst record and a 25 percent chance of picking No. 1. The third pick went to Minnesota.

Even with the predictable pick, Petrie still might be in position of filling a roster need and choosing the player deemed the most talented among those remaining.

In relation to the age-old talent vs. need debate, it's convenient for the Kings that many of the projected lottery players are point guards or athletic big men.

Though the Kings are expected to court free-agent-to-be Beno Udrih as their point guard of the future when negotiating can begin July 1, there is a need at that position even if Udrih remains. Should the likes of Texas' D.J. Augustin or UCLA's Russell Westbrook fall that far, the depth would be more than welcome on a roster that has no true point guards.

In the frontcourt, the Kings need youth and athleticism to help with their rebounding and low-post scoring woes. If LSU power forward Anthony Randolph, Kansas power forward Darrell Arthur, Texas A&M center DeAndre Jordan or even Nevada center JaVale McGee were available, they certainly would be considered. And even with the Kings picking a center last year in Hawes, Kings director of player personnel Jerry Reynolds said the current crop of bigs is versatile enough to render that fact irrelevant.

"Geoff's going to take the best player," Reynolds said. "But everybody among the bigs is capable of playing a couple positions, as is Spencer. In my mind, that's not even a problem … . The draft camps (May 27-30 in Orlando, Fla.) and the workouts (in June) will have a lot to do with who you like a little better, and who's available."

For a day, Parilo was the biggest Kings star. Having become the first fan to represent a team in the NBA draft lottery, she held her own in joking with Bird and Jay-Z. The musician even mused that, "I thought I was the luckiest person in the room, but I see there's a luckier person than me" before the picks were announced.

For a team that has lacked national publicity in recent years, the Kings' brand was on full display. The contest idea sprouted when Kings co-owner Joe Maloof responded to a question at a season-ticket holders meeting, then grew into something big enough to create a buzz among the team's most hard-core fans.

Thomas said other teams attempted to follow suit and bring their own lucky fan, but they were rebuffed by the league to let the Kings have the unofficial copyright this time.

"We couldn't lose today," Thomas said.

About the writer:

• Read Sam Amick's Kings blog at www.sacbee.com/blogs.