By BARRY JACKSON
Two of the most anticipated events for South Florida sports fans this year -- the NFL Draft and the NBA draft lottery -- aren't even games.
Actually, what ESPN will be airing Tuesday will be the results of the weighted lottery, not the actual lottery. The NBA continues to conduct the lottery behind closed doors, about 90 minutes before the broadcast but in the presence of representatives for every lottery team -- including Heat senior vice president Andy Elisburg.
(The team representatives inside the room are different from the ones who will be on stage during the broadcast, a group that will include the Heat's Dwyane Wade.)
The people in the room where the lottery is performed are not permitted to leave -- or use phones or electronic devices -- to spread the results before ESPN's broadcast at 8 p.m.
During the time in between, the team logos are placed in envelopes, allowing the lottery picks to be revealed in descending order on ESPN.
Besides airing a lottery preview show at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, ESPN's NBA Shootaround at 7:30 will be lottery-intensive, with Stuart Scott, Jon Barry and Michael Wilbon anchoring from the site of the Eastern Conference finals.
The lottery show will begin at 8 p.m., with Mark Jones, Jay Bilas and reporter Doris Burke hosting on-site from Secaucus, N.J.
As a TV show, the lottery thrives in years like this, when there are a couple of star players. Last year's lottery show generated a 2.0 rating -- ESPN's best for the event -- but below its 2.4 average for playoff games.
Indications are the Heat leans strongly toward taking Memphis point guard Derrick Rose over Kansas State power forward Michael Beasley if it picks first.
''If I were Miami, I would take Rose simply because he's a point guard that has size and athletic ability and he's special,'' Bilas said, adding it would be difficult to secure an impact point guard through free agency.
And if Miami picks third or fourth, Bilas said he ''probably'' would take Arizona point guard Jerryd Bayless or Indiana shooting guard Eric Gordon, though several NBA personnel people said Stanford center Brook Lopez would make sense at No. 3.
Southern California shooting guard O.J. Mayo ''has been very impressive, but I still think Bayless is probably long-term a better player,'' Bilas said. ``Bayless is not a traditional point guard, but he can play the point.''
