This is pure speculation and has nothing to do with the reality of the Draft Lottery or NBA. But if Stern was rigging the draft Lottery, what would we expect the results to be? I would guess his formula would be based on what was most palatable and most marketable.

The current standings show:

#1 (7-40)	#2 (11-38)	#3 (12-37)	#4 (16-35)	#5 (16-34)	#6 (17-32)	#7 (17-32)
#8 (17-30)	#9 (20-28)	#10 (23-27)	#11 (23-27)	#12 (24-27)	#13 (25-25)	#14 (27-24)

and while there may be a shift in the last team in the west or east these are pretty much the lottery teams.

It's unlikely that the lottery would be rigged so that all 3 lottery spots went to higher seeds. In fact it would make sense if you were rigging the lottery to reserve 2 spots for the bottom 4 teams and 1 spot for a wild card team.

So the bottom 4 teams are Bobcats, Wizards, New Orleans and New Jersey. It's obvious if your Stern you want New Orleans to be in the lottery as it's probably the only way you'll eventually find owners for the teams. So 1 slot for New Orleans.

I would also see giving New Jersey a slot. Having a strong New Jersey team just improves marketability. They have a new arena going up and if they can keep Williams New York is more exciting. So 1 spot for New Jersey(too bad for Portland)

Now for the final slot. From a marketing perspective, we can eliminate the Wizards and Cavs(lottery teams 2 years in a row) and still having some excitement about their last 2 picks. The Kings and Golden State(California market is doing great with the resurgence of Clippers and Golden State will be interesting next year with Big Country in town) The Wolves have Rubio and Love now and will garner excitement next year, so they are out. Houston is probably out as well. Texas market is doing fine with strong teams in Dallas and San Antonio) The Blazers likewise can be eliminated. They have a strong fan-base and are in their first down year in a little while.

This leaves: Bobcats, Raptors, Pistons, Bucks, Suns. So Stern has 2 choices: 1-Shore up a flagging franchise (Bobcats, Raptors or Pistons) 2-Create buzz for a new "contender" (Suns, Bucks)

My guess:

1. New Orleans

2. Phoenix Suns

3. New Jersey

What do y'al think?