As the envelopes were opened one by one at Thursday's NBA Draft lottery drawing in Secaucus, N.J., the excitement of about 1,500 Heat fans gathered at AmericanAirlines Arena began to build.

When the Heat didn't get No. 7, the worst it could have done by virtue of having the league's fourth-worst record at 25-57, everyone let out a sigh of relief.

When the Heat didn't get No. 6, some actually started to believe.

But when the Heat's logo emerged from the envelope at No. 5, there was brief disappointment.

"It was disappointing because we were going in with the idea we had a great chance of getting the No. 1 or 2 pick," said forward Caron Butler, the Heat's representative at the lottery drawing. "But we're still in a great situation."

That's a fact.