NBA Draft Lottery 2015: Timberwolves get No. 1 pick

Were this 10 years ago there would not be much of a debate. Jahlil Okafor has everything you’d want in a top pick. He was the first freshman to win ACC Player of the Year and he did it for a team that won the national championship.

The only problem is it’s not 10 years ago and most teams don’t want to play that way anymore. They value spacing on offense and rim protection on defense. Okafor’s offensive strengths are minimized by his defensive shortcomings. Modern big men are also expected to step out and shoot 18-20 footers if not extend all the way to the three-point line, leaving the paint open for slashers and creators to drive to the basket.

General manager Steve Mills told the Wall Street Journal’s Chris Herring that they “are going to be open to a lot of things” in terms of how they handle the pick. The Knicks have reportedly been open to trading the pick before, and with it landing lower in the final order now, they could be motivated to move it if the right opportunity presents itself.

Expect rumors to fly about the fourth overall pick until draft night on June 25.

Meanwhile, at a jam-packed 76ers NBA Draft Lottery viewing party:

That is a RAUCOUS crowd. 76ers fans root hard, y’all. Dribblin’ Ben Franklin, this will be your year.

Adding either Jahlil Okafor or Karl-Anthony Towns will cheer anyone up.

Here’s the full draft order.

1. Minnesota Timberwolves

Noel went the extra mile at the Lottery on Tuesday, because not only did he have a custom 76ers lining in his suit coat, but THEY WERE ACTUAL JERSEYS!

So very, very cool. Well played, Nerlens.

What was his lucky charm? One hell of a shirt.

Sadly, it didn’t work. The Thunder had a 0.5% chance of getting the top pick but ended up with the No. 14 pick in the draft.

Nope. You should be ashamed, Kings.

For me, the NBA Draft Lottery is appointment viewing. Every year -- even when my Knicks don’t have a pick -- I watch this event.

Calling it an “event” is strange, because pretty much nothing happens. By the time the cameras turn on, the results are already in. The ping-pong balls have already bounced. The accountant from Richguy, Richguy and Wealthman knows who has the No. 1 pick, as does whoever is in charge of stuffing the pretty placards with team logos on them into the big envelopes. But I watch.

The weighted draft lottery system the NBA has used to determine the top-three picks in the draft has been in place since 1990. There have been a few tweaks with more teams coming into the league since then, but the general process has remained the same. So how does it work?

Because there are 14 non-playoff teams, 14 ping-pong balls numbered 1-14 are placed in a lottery machine. The balls are mixed for 20 seconds before the first ball is drawn. The remaining balls are then mixed for 10 seconds before the second ball is drawn. This process is repeated until four balls have been drawn to create a four-digit combination to determine the No. 1 pick.

In the first drafts, teams simply picked in reverse order of their win-loss record. There was also a special territorial-pick rule that allowed a team to draft a player from the local area, although that team then lost their first-round pick if the territorial pick was used. The draft system was changed in 1966 to feature a coin flip between the worst teams in each division, and that system stayed in place until that first lottery in 1985.

The first version of the lottery involved envelopes of the non-playoff teams being selected out of a hopper, with every team having the same chance at the top pick. There was controversy surrounding the Knicks’ victory in that debut lottery, because some thought the NBA rigged it by making it easy to tell which envelope belonged to New York. Despite the criticism surrounding the envelope system, it remained through 1989, although a tweak was made in 1987 that made it so the lottery only determined the top three picks.

The Wolves have a 25 percent chance of nabbing the top selection, although the team with the worst record in the league has only earned the top pick three times since the weighted lottery system was implemented in 1990 and four times overall since the lottery began in 1985. The good news is Minnesota can’t pick lower than fourth.

Okay, well ...

1. These are some of the most grotesque caricatures I’ve ever seen

2. IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE DEREK FISHER

3. WHAT IN THE HELL DOES “DONKEY PONG” MEAN

4. Oh god, The Daily News is taking the world’s most roundabout way of calling the Knicks “asses” aren’t they

5. This is possibly the LEAST Adam Silver has ever looked like Slender Man

6. Please stop, Daily News