Northwest franchise wins big in lottery

In perhaps the most crucial lottery sweepstakes to take place in this country since the record-breaking $355 million Megamillions drawing last year, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Seattle Supersonics walked away the big winners, hauling in the No. 1 and No. 2 picks in the NBA draft, respectively.

The Sonics entered the lottery with an 8.8-percent chance (88 ping pong balls out of 1,000) of getting the top pick, having finished the season with the fifth worst record in the league. The Portland Trail Blazers had a 5.3-percent chance.

The Trail Blazers had UW alumnus and the 2007 Rookie of the Year, Brandon Roy, represent them in New York, and he took the No. 1 pick with a big smile on his face, unquestionably representing the emotions of the Portland and Seattle fan bases alike.

The draft is an important one for the Sonics as they potentially could be leaving the state after this upcoming season, they're 41st as a franchise. The new ownership led by Clay Bennett had been hoping for a new arena deal to be finalized with the city earlier this year, but plans have fallen through at this point. Now, Bennett is looking at Las Vegas and Oklahoma City as potential destinations for the club.

Obtaining the second pick in this year's draft could change those plans, however. With prizes like freshmen center Greg Oden and forward Kevin Durant among one of the deepest lottery crops in recent memory, the Sonics will add a star to the team that could generate some serious buzz once again over basketball in this city and keep them here.

Here's how the top 14 picks of the 2007 NBA draft look now:

1) Portland Trail Blazers

2) Seattle Sonics

3) Atlanta Hawks

4) Memphis Grizzlies

5) Boston Celtics

6) Milwaukee Bucks

7) Minnesota Timberwolves

8) Charlotte Bobcats

9) Chicago Bulls (via NY)

10) Sacramento Kings

11) Atlanta (via IND)

12) Philadelphia 76ers

13) New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets

14) Los Angeles Clippers

What to watch: UFC 71

The fight of the year could, and probably should, unfold this Saturday at UFC 71, as Chuck "The Ice Man" Liddell battles Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

This bout for the Light Heavyweight title pits two of the world's most ferocious strikers up against one another. Each fighter has a distinguished pro career in the sport, as Liddell (20-3) enters on a seven-match win streak and is considered by many to be in the prime of his career. Rampage (26-6), on the other hand, is new to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), having previously fought for the rival entity, Pride FC, in Japan, where he built a notorious reputation. Now, taking on Liddell for his second fight in the UFC organization, he has a chance to alert a fan base largely unfamiliar with the fighter of his stature.

The two fighters have some history with each other in the form of a fight in November of 2003 in the Pride organization in which Jackson beat Liddell with a second-round stoppage. That loss under the Pride rules was the last Liddell has suffered and the only one yet to be avenged. Saturday, he gets his first opportunity for a rematch in the cage, in a five-round bout.

Three weeks after Floyd Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya fought to save the sport of boxing in Las Vegas to a record-setting pay-per-view audience, Liddell and Jackson take the MGM Grand stage to show just why that fight was to save boxing.

Mixed martial arts — with the UFC being its main enterprise — is the fastest growing sport in the world, and this fight is an emergence of the sport into the mainstream sporting landscape. ESPNews will cover the weigh-ins live Friday and the fight on Saturday with a generous amount of highlights. ESPN Magazine and Sports Illustrated this week have ran cover stories about the UFC in the last two weeks.

Reach reporter Anthony Dion at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.