The NBA Draft Lottery is Tonight, While The Nets' Future Lies in the Balance

Tonight, at 8pm, in MSG, the Nets' franchise will set out on a road to success....or one of bitter despair

The 2012 NBA Draft Lottery is tonight at 8pm on ESPN and it is obviously one of great importance for the New Jersey Brooklyn Nets. Even though the site has been super-quiet lately (You can blame my teachers), it shouldn't be understated just how crucial tonight is for the short-term and long-term scope of this team.

You know the drill, the top-three protected 1st-round pick the Nets flipped to the Portland Trailblazers could wind up in a very good rookie for the Nets (and potential trade chip for Dwight Howard) or a very good rookie for Portland. There is even some chatter that the results of tonight's lottery will be the deciding factor in whether D-Will will return to the Nets this offseason or sign elsewhere (let it be noted that I don't completely believe in Woj's report, but I must acknowledge its existence.)

Anyway, the consequences of the Nets losing their potentially very-high 1st-round pick in this year's loaded draft would be severe and could lead to another period of extended futility with a team and a fan base that has experienced way too much of that in recent years. The specifics are grim: the Nets only have around a 25% chance of keeping their pick and a 75% chance of losing it.

You don't have to be a math major to know that those are awful, terrible, no-good odds and according to said odds, the Nets and their fans will probably go to sleep tonight without a 1st-round pick and a great chance that their franchise player will be playing elsewhere this offseason.

I'm not trying to scare you, fellow Nets fans, I'm trying to be honest and truthful. Being hopeful that the lottery balls will fall in our favor is the way to go for right now, just keep it in check with the knowledge that that hope will most likely spoil and turn into pessimism in about an hour. The only positive with this grim knowledge is that the Nets are no stranger to terrible luck and us fans are used to it by now. Let's hold on to the chance our luck will turn tonight.