When Eddy Curry is getting playing time and Gilbert Arenas walks up off the street attempting game-winners, thoughts inevitably turn to tanking and the draft, bookends of the NBA's riveting lottery process.

No other sport gives it's draft selection process such flair. They flip coins to determine draft positions in the event of a tie in other sports. In pro basketball, they make it a closed door production that does more for the ping-pong ball than even the smoking-hot Biba Golic.

For every fan base currently not thinking about the postseason, their next big night on the calendar comes May 19 in Secaucus, N.J. From NBA Entertainment HQ, they'll watch their team's representatives sweat out the results of a drawing that I've long contended should be televised.

With that apparently not on the horizon, we'll have to settle for the entertainment value of those awkward moments when it looks like someone might swallow their own tongue because their team's been announced far earlier than they should be. It balances out the not-so-restrained jubilation when the rep of the team that benefits realizes his squad is moving on up, and starts pulling out the rabit's foot/bobblehead/Koosh ball that will invariably get the credit.

In short, the NBA Draft Lottery rules.

And since the night is so glorious and festive, a revival of spirits following the dismal six-month period that got them there, the debate will always rage over whether teams should take all precautions to ensure the likelihood of a happy ending.

This year, top prize will be Blake Griffin, once he declares.

Wouldn't a team rather have 250 ping-pong ball combinations to help acquire his services than say, 119?

Those 131 combinations, all of which contain the possibility of a potential All-Star power forward, are the difference between what the team that finishes with the worst record will receive compared to the one that finishes fourth-worst.

It's the difference the Memphis Grizzlies will subject themselves to if they continue to notch road wins like the one they picked up Monday night at Golden State. In collecting victory No. 19, a spirited comeback against a Warriors squad barely dressing out the minimum allotment of players, Memphis moved three games in front of the Washington Wizards.

Of course, Memphis probably wants nothing to do with the lottery, having been screwed out of the Kevin Durant/Greg Oden choice despite the league's worst mark two years ago, then failing to keep Derrick Rose in the city last year when good fortune smiled on Chicago.

Maybe that's why they have no qualms about winning in Sacramento and following it up a few nights later with another feel-good moment in Oakland. The lottery has been no friend even when the odds were in the Grizzlies' favor, so why not just tempt fate and win as much as possible?

Winning for spite -- that, I understand. May as well go to town and surpass Oklahoma City and Minnesota and fall below the seven percent range as far as their top-pick chances go.

Winning for the sake of winning? Don't see the benefit.

Developing talent is one thing, especially since many of these teams in contention for worst record are among the NBA's youngest, but as far as I'm concerned, rattling off a winning streak at this time of year is counter-productive. It means sacrificing your scratch-offs.

Watching Sacramento celebrate an overtime victory over Shaquille O'Neal and his Suns, all I could wonder was whether the Kings will be as thrilled come May 19. Coupled with back-to-back Washington losses, the Kings temporarily forfeited 51 lottery combinations.

Now, Arenas, he's been on the right wave length for a while now, getting in trouble for blogging about how this season's disasters might work out in his team's favor with a little help from the lottery fairy.

In his return game against Detroit this past weekend, Arenas had his late attempt to be a hero blocked by former teammate Kwame Brown, keeping the Wizards on course for the league's worst record. It might wind up being Brown's second-biggest assist to the D.C. franchise short of helping them land Caron Butler from L.A.

Let's pause and recognize that Kwame Brown's name was mentioned in a column advocating the benefits of tanking for a shot at the No. 1 overall pick. No need to jinx Griffin.

Arenas may have been keen on the right path for his Wizards from early on, but Antawn Jamison told the Washington Times he wants no part of tanking, and "if anyone in this locker room is, I don't want to be a part of that.."

"We've got pride," Jamison said. "Not try to win? I work too hard not to try to win. I mean, it's tough enough. This has been some unbelievable (stuff), but (we're) going out there, still competing, making it fun. That's how I am. That's the way we are. So it didn't go the way we planned, but I'm not fixing to lose as many games as possible."

Jamison's spirit is admirable, but I'd give him the same advice Marsellus Wallace gave Butch Coolidge in Pulp Fiction as far as pride is concerned. There are a number of consolation prizes available for this season's biggest losers, and the Wizards, through one freak occurence after another, are currently the favorite to land the most coveted.

"One pick is not going to make the difference as far as us winning a championship or not," Jamison told the Washington Times. "Gilbert being healthy is going to make a difference; Brendan (Haywood) being healthy is going to make a difference. I think that's a chicken way out as far as trying to lose as many games as possible."

San Antonio, which has celebrated four titles since fate bestowed Tim Duncan upon it, could tell you one pick can make a major difference. More recently, Orlando nosed Charlotte for the right to take Dwight Howard over Emeka Okafor. One center has his team on the verge of a 60-win season, while the other looks like he'll again fall short of taking his team into the playoffs.

One pick means a lot.

In this upcoming draft, it means the difference between banking on one player most scouts and front office personnel feel can't miss and a host of others who may or may not come through.

Mind you, none of the NBA's current bottom six figure to win too many more games between now and the next three weeks, but are tightly-bunched enough that they can potentially do significant damage with a few too many wins.

Hope Jamison and Co. keep that in mind when the Wizards visit Memphis for an April Fools' Day game where the winner really loses. Ditto for the Kings and Clippers when they square off on April 10.

Win now and potentially pay for it later. In the big picture, which will be more memorable, a win down the stretch of a lost season, or sitting on that podium when that second envelope opens and you've just won the Griffin sweepstakes?

Having the odds stacked in your favor doesn't guarantee a thing, but I'll take 250 lottery combinations to help make it happen every day of the week.

 1. 250 combinations, 25% chance of receiving the #1 pick
 2. 199 combinations, 19.9% chance
 3. 156 combinations, 15.6% chance
 4. 119 combinations, 11.9% chance
 5. 88 combinations, 8.8% chance
 6. 63 combinations, 6.3% chance
 7. 43 combinations, 4.3% chance
 8. 28 combinations, 2.8% chance
 9. 17 combinations, 1.7% chance
10. 11 combinations, 1.1% chance
11. 8 combinations, 0.8% chance
12. 7 combinations, 0.7% chance
13. 6 combinations, 0.6% chance
14. 5 combinations, 0.5% chance

Tony Mejia is senior writer for Pro Basketball News. He can be reached at mejia@probasketballnews.com.