For the second straight year, the conspiracy theorists were proven wrong, and as a result the Knicks may continue to plod along in mediocrity.

The N.B.A. draft lottery was not rigged for the Knicks last year, when Yao Ming was the grand prize, and it did not work out in their favor tonight, when every team in the lottery was dreaming of landing LeBron James, the highly touted high school player from Akron, Ohio.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, not the Knicks or anyone else, will get the 18-year-old James. The Knicks stayed in the draft spot corresponding to their record and will select ninth in the draft at the Theater in Madison Square Garden on June 26.

Scott Layden, the Knicks president and general manager, put on a brave face afterward, saying the pick is still valuable and very capable of helping the Knicks improve. The Knicks have not made the playoffs the last two years.