LOTS TO BE TANK-FUL FOR
Suns have best shot at winning No. 1 pick on Tuesday, but playoff teams could move up board too
The NBA draft lottery — a.k.a. the NBA’s Annual Convention of Losers — takes place Tuesday in Chicago. For the 13 teams that will be represented on the dais (the Los Angeles Clippers will have two selections), the lottery offers their fans hope for a different future. Here’s a look at what Tuesday night will mean for each team with something at stake:
PHOENIX SUNS: Phoenix has never picked first. This year, though, the Suns have the best odds of winning the lottery, a fine year to buck that trend. The No. 1 pick would allow the Suns to draft either Arizona centre DeAndre Ayton or Slovenian wunderkind Luka Doncic. Either would be welcome under new coach Igor Kokoskov and alongside guard Devin Booker.
MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES: After an atrocious season, a lottery win would give the Grizzlies a chance to inject a premium young talent onto a veteranladen team led by Marc Gasol and Mike Conley. The Grizzlies look like they’ve reached the end of what has been a terrific run, but the right young player could potentially allow them to extend it by a few years.
DALLAS MAVERICKS: Dallas openly committed to finishing with the best draft pick possible after spending several years seeking a veteran talent to pair with hall of famer Dirk Nowitzki. Point guard Dennis Smith was a strong selection with the ninth pick last year; another hit this year could finally give Dallas the bridge to its post-Nowitzki future.
ATLANTA HAWKS: General manager Travis Schlenk committed to a full rebuild when taking over a year ago. That plan, though, will only work if Atlanta gets its picks right. Winning the lottery in a draft in which the Hawks have four picks inside the top 33 would be a great place to start.
ORLANDO MAGIC: Since trading Dwight Howard in 2012, the Magic have been on a treadmill of mediocrity, failing to make the playoffs in each of the past six seasons. Three coaches and a new front office later, the Magic hope Tuesday is the start of a new era. CHICAGO BULLS: A decade ago, the Bulls jumped up to win the lottery and the chance to get hometown hero Derrick Rose. With the lottery site moving from New York to Chicago, the Bulls will be hoping the change in location provides enough luck for them to add another high draft pick to pair with second-year forward Lauri Markkanen. SACRAMENTO KINGS: Sacramento’s streak of 12 years in a row without a playoff berth is the longest in the NBA. Another team that’s never won the lottery, Sacramento could desperately use some ping-pong balls bouncing their way. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS: Want to bet on a long shot? Cleveland winning, with Brooklyn’s pick, is a good bet. Three of the last four times the Cavaliers have been here, they’ve won it. That would certainly come in handy for Cleveland, which would love a top three pick to equal either a prime young talent or a trade asset that can be used to lure more veteran help for LeBron James.
BROOKLYN NETS: All that trading the rights to four picks for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett in 2013 has resulted for the Nets in is watching the Celtics load up with assets, while the Nets have been stuck in a rebuild that can’t get off the ground. The Cavaliers’ draft slot will be the final feeling of pain.
NEW YORK KNICKS: The Knicks — for the first time in forever — seem committed to a patient, long-term approach. Perhaps they will be rewarded with some lottery luck for the first time since winning the first one ever, and the right to draft Patrick Ewing, in 1985. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS: After trading up to get Markelle Fultz last year, Philadelphia will hope for more luck, or, at worst, to stay at No. 10 and draft another player who can step in and help right away. LOS ANGELES LAKERS: That the Lakers owe this year’s pick to the Sixers is remarkable, given that it was only top-three protected each of the past three years because of the ill-fated Steve Nash trade from six years ago and the Lakers managed to finish with the second pick three years running. Now that it’s unprotected, there’s no such luck this time. CHARLOTTE HORNETS: With little to no chance of jumping up from 11th, a roster full of bad contracts and Kemba Walker one year from free agency, this is as bad a situation as there is in the NBA.
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS: The Clippers probably won’t jump up from the 12th and 13th picks, but having both should allow them to either begin retooling with a couple immediate contributors, or offer potential chips in a trade for Kawhi Leonard if the San Antonio Spurs choose to go that route.
DETROIT PISTONS: It would be fitting if the final act from the Stan Van Gundy’s tenure — the Blake Griffin trade — resulted in the Pistons jumping up from No. 12, which would then allow them to keep their top-four protected pick. The chances of that happening, though, are minimal.
DENVER NUGGETS: There’s virtually no possibility of Denver moving up from the 14th pick. That gives Denver time to think about last year’s draft, when it traded out of 13th and missed a chance to take Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell. Oops.