I was going to to liveblog the lottery tonight, since this is arguably one of the most important nights ever in Isiah Thomas' legacy, but Dan Shanoff is gonna do it over at Deadspin. I don't like copying other people's business. Meanwhile, this is the most media mentions the Knicks have gotten in an over a month, and I've got a few things on my mind...

• I need someone to remind me: If a team is conveying a lottery pick to another team, do they still have to show up at the lottery? We're not gonna see John Starks sitting at a podium, pretending to be happy when the Knicks land the first pick tonight, right? I'm pretty sure that's not the case, but I need confirmation. EDIT: We're good.
• What if you could use ping-pong balls as trade fodder? Like...would you trade Mardy Collins for a 5 percent chance at a top-3 pick? 10 percent? 25 percent?
• By the way, I assume it's common knowledge for Knick fans but, in case you were in the dark, the Bulls have about a 2% chance at landing a top 3 pick.
• Bill Simmons on our close monitoring of tonight's lottery:

  If this spot comes up and Chicago's logo isn't in the No. 10 envelope, it immediately becomes the most dramatic lottery moment of all-time. Every Knicks fan would cease breathing for the rest of the lottery. That's no exaggeration. Whether they'd ever start breathing again remains to be seen.

  Simmons often misreads the feelings of the Knicks fanbase, but I think he's right on the money here. I'm pretty nervous.
• I just flipped a coin and it was heads. I don't know how that's significant, but I thought I'd inform you.
• I have a feeling that Philly's gonna get the top pick.

UPDATE: I just realized that the Sixers have a 0.7% chance of landing the first pick. Hmm. I'm gonna go ahead and stand by my prediction...cause that's how I fuckin' roll.