Sacramento has a 25 percent chance of winning the lottery and the right to draft Oklahoma?s Blake Griffin. The winner also will field many phone calls from teams trying to package picks and players to move up for Griffin.

Unless the Nets , who are slated to pick 11th, beat their miniscule chances ? 0.9 percent ? count them among those calling to see what it would take to get No. 1.

The Nets had a very good draft last year, picking Brook Lopez 10th, Ryan Anderson 21st and Chris Douglas-Roberts 40th. They have only one pick this time, but they?re not complaining.

"Last year was a great draft because of the depth," Nets president Rod Thorn said. "How many superstars were in that draft, we?ll see three or four years from now. There were a lot of NBA players. This one is not as deep. There are some good players. It?s just not as deep."

This draft has some undersized power forwards, but its depth seems to be in the backcourt. The Nets need help at both forward spots and a No. 3 point guard, all of which they could find at 11. But everything depends on what happens after Griffin.

Connecticut 7-foot-3 center Hasheem Thabeet and Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio are expected to go second and third. But there are no guarantees.

"It?s certainly in the eye of the beholder," Thorn said. "After you get past the first two or three guys, anybody can slip down to you."

Thorn, who will represent the Nets on stage tonight, and his Basketball people have begun watching video of players they expect to be there at 11.

He said if the Nets drop a few spots ? they can?t fall further than 14 ? or "fortune shines on us" and they climb to one, two or three, they will study more players before next week?s NBA draft combine in Chicago.

But if fortune shines on the Nets and they get No. 1, they won?t need much video. Their phones probably will be busy, though.

E-mail: iannazzone@northjersey.com