Luck and the Clippers have not been synonymous, not in quite some time.
That all changed Tuesday night with a dramatic flourish as the Clippers won the NBA's draft lottery, meaning they will get the first pick in the draft for the third time. That choice is widely expected to be Blake Griffin of Oklahoma, the consensus No. 1, and college basketball's player of the year.
FOR THE RECORD
NBA: A list of Mark Heisler's picks for the NBA draft in the May 20 Sports section said Eric Maynor is from TCU. He is from VCU, or Virginia Commonwealth University.
The Clippers, which had the third-worst record in the NBA, had a 17.7% chance of winning. Picking second at the draft, which is June 25 in New York, will be the Memphis Grizzlies, and Oklahoma City is third. Sacramento, which had a 25% chance of getting the top pick, will select fourth.
Clippers President Andy Roeser represented the team at the lottery, held at Secaucus, N.J.
"I just didn't want to see our logo for one more time," Roeser said on ESPN. "It's a great day for us.
"It's a great day for Clipper fans and we're very happy. I know we're going to get a great player and someone who's going to help our franchise for a very, very long time. As soon as we're done here, I'm going to be on the phone with Coach Dunleavy and we're going to start talking about that."
Said Griffin, also in an ESPN interview: "I was obviously excited ... just to play in the NBA has been a dream for so long. It's a great feeling. I'm going to try to make the best out of whatever situation I'm put in. Hopefully I can make a big impact. I'm going to try to come in and learn as much as I can on the fly, and hopefully help the team out in any way I can."
The Clippers' previous No. 1 picks, overall, were Danny Manning in 1988, and Michael Olowokandi in 1998.
lisa.dillman@latimes.com
