Lucky Raptors land no.1 pick in draft

The Toronto Raptors won the National Basketball Association's draft lottery on Tuesday night in Secaucus, New Jersey, and the honour of the no.1 pick in June's draft.

The Raptors were the big winners of the night as Toronto had the fifth worst record in the NBA at 27-55 in the 2005-06 season.

But Toronto jumped up four places to win the lottery for the first time, something new general manager Bryan Colangelo feels is a sign that the struggling team's fortunes are changing for the better after several losing seasons.

"For us to have this kind of luck is a symbol of a reversal of fortune going forward," Colangelo told reporters.

"It's great for our franchise to be able to select the no.1 overall pick."

The Chicago Bulls will draft second, thanks to the New York Knicks, who dealt their first-round pick to Chicago during the season for Eddy Curry.

New York (23-59) had the second worst record in the league and the lottery balls kept the New York pick in second spot, which will now go to the Bulls, who finished 41-41 this season.

Only the 14 non-playoff teams take part in the lottery. There doesn't appear to be a consensus no. 1 pick for the June 28 draft, which will be held in New York.

Due to rule changes, there will be no high school players allowed to be selected this year.

Hurricane-ravaged New Orleans has been chosen to host the NBA All-Star game for the first time in 2008. The 57th All-Star Game will be played on February 17 at the New Orleans Arena, home of the NBA's Hornets. New Orleans is continuing to recover from Hurricane Katrina, which slammed the region last year in one of the nation's worst natural disasters.