Kahn's mock draft

There is an odd smell coming from New Jersey these days. Not that unpleasant odors around Newark are unusual ... but we've been wondering for 17 years now exactly what happens in the NBA Draft Lottery.

That was the immediate take when the Washington Wizards -- among the 13 teams that didn't make the playoffs -- ended up with the first pick of the upcoming draft.

Kwame Brown is one of several high schoolers M.J. can choose from with the No. 1 pick.(AP)

First, Michael Jordan, finishing his first full season as president, began unloading the huge contracts that were paralyzing the team: Juwan Howard, then Rod Strickland, and in the next six weeks, Mitch Richmond will be bought out and sent packing.

Now Jordan appears poised for a comeback as a player, although he reportedly hasn't worked out in a couple of weeks due to back spasms.

But he also has Charles Barkley on board, and maybe Patrick Ewing to add experience to the young core of Richard Hamilton, Courtney Alexander, Jahidi White and Etan Thomas.

On television, there was the best NBA analyst of the generation, Doug Collins, beaming like a proud papa over his good fortune.

As the new coach of the Wizards, since Jordan fired overmatched Leonard Hamilton, it's strange NBC and the NBA have kept Collins in this position through the playoffs despite the obvious conflict of interest; he has power to attract free agents via network television.

So on the heels of another dreadful (19-63) season, despite playing host to the NBA All-Star Game, this transition for the D.C. franchise became a fait accompli.

The No. 1 pick. ... Was it rigged? Who knows? As assistant general manager Rod Higgins (representing the Wizards at the Lotto) said as he was warmly congratulated by NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik, "Time to explore some trades."

No doubt about it. He added there was not an Ewing, nor a Shaquille O'Neal to salivate over with the first pick, and that's an understatement.

But it's a great asset, nonetheless. It also reminded us of the first Lotto in 1985, when everybody expected the woeful New York Knicks to get the first pick so they could choose Ewing. And they did, even though Golden State and Indiana had worse records.

The consensus fix for the new made-for-TV event was the Knicks logo had been kept in a cooler of some kind, so when commissioner David Stern reached into the basket, he came out with a cold one.

Or so the story goes. ...

Anyway, we now have the Wiz and M.J. holding court. Probably he ends up playing next season with Big Charles and maybe Patrick.

They'll still be rebuilding with hopes of sneaking into the playoffs in the process, and you can expect him to try real hard to trade down. Sure, he knows a lot about Eddy Curry, the massive but graceful high school center from suburban Chicago.

But Curry is just one of four prep stars -- along with Tyson Chandler, Kwame Brown and DeSagana Diop -- expected to go in the top half dozen.

If somebody stood out, it would be an easy decision.

Had 7-foot-6 Chinese center Yao Ming entered the draft this season (he'll automatically be eligible next season), it would have enhanced the value 50-fold, and the Wizards probably would have taken him. Same goes for Duke point guard Jason Williams, who would fit perfectly into their scheme for the future.

Instead, there is no easy pick, and if they're lucky, they'll be able to trade down somewhere in the top 13 and get a fine young point guard with a couple of years NBA experience.

The past three years, the drafts have gone downhill fast in the wake of the growing desire of high school seniors and college freshmen to bolt. This year, the early exodus into big-pay, no-play land has a record six high school grads and a dozen college freshmen have filed for early entry.

Throw in the 17 international players under the age of 22, and the changing face of the NBA continues; and few have much facial hair.

The annual crap shoot will be more diluted than ever before, and if you think this is an exaggeration, consider that Orlando Magic swingman Mike Miller was rookie of the year this season. And the only reason he won was because he's a good shooter who averaged 11 points a game on a team that made the playoffs.

At least last season, when Elton Brand and Steve Francis shared the award, they were both impact players.

As for now, this just makes for interesting fodder. Because of the legalized zone defense next season, the unusually high number of big men with good shooting touches does make this draft more interesting. And yet, the reality is this very likely will become just like all the other drafts where each athlete and spot in the draft takes on ludicrously inflated value, when in reality, there has never been a first pick overall that could be worth less.

After all, consider the Houston Rockets have to figure out what to do with three first-round picks, and Orlando, Vancouver, Denver and Cleveland have two apiece. Those five teams have nearly half of the 28 first-round picks (Minnesota lost its pick in the Joe Smith cap circumvention fiasco), so how many teams are going to be interested to move?

Then again, when Michael Jordan is at the controls, anything is possible.