Tuesday night was supposed to be the coming out party for the new online betting Nets owner. As can be the case when things are left to chance, the 2010 NBA draft lottery prevented things from going as planned. Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov was on hand to represent his new team officially, for the first time at an NBA event, and expected to open his tenure as owner with the celebration of getting the number one pick. After finishing with the worst record in the NBA betting a year ago, and coming close to setting a new all-time low wins mark, the Nets were the online sports betting favorite to win the draft lottery with a 25% chance. The eventual winner however was the Washington Wizards, who secured the number-one pick despite having just a 10.3% chance. Suddenly the swagger of the smooth-talking, swagger -ridden star of the show had disappeared.
In fact, New Jersey fell all the way to the number three pick in the draft, as the Philadelphia Sixers moved up to second. No longer would they have a shot at either of the top-two expected picks, Kentucky freshman John Wall, and the National Player of the Year award winner Evan Turner. Prokhorov was cool about the situation afterwards, noting that one player does not mean that his team will not be able to compete, however, a quick look around the NBA betting standings would reveal just how important the individual is to the team, with the likes of Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Steve Nash all leading their teams to the Final Four in this year's playoffs.