Hawks hit the jackpot, but Raptors not so lucky
The Atlanta Hawks won the NBA draft lottery on Sunday, landing the No. 1 pick and a potential cornerstone player in a year where there's no clearcut choice. The Hawks hit the jackpot despite just 3 per cent odds after finishing 10th in the Eastern Conference at 3646.
Washington, Houston, San Antonio and Detroit rounded out the top five.
The Toronto Raptors fell to eighth, meaning the pick will go to San Antonio as part of the trade for centre Jakob Poeltl in February 2023. The 2024 first-round pick, one of three sent from the Raptors to the Spurs, was a top-six protected draft choice.
The draft is set for June 26-27 in Brooklyn. The No. 1 pick could once again come from France, whether it's centre Alex Sarr or sharpshooting forward Zaccharie Risacher, but that's far from a certainty.
UConn guard Stephon Castle and Kentucky's Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham are both expected to be off the board within the first few selections.
Ron Ellis, who played more than 1,000 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs and was a member of Canada's team at the 1972 Summit Series, has died at age 79.
Ellis played his entire 15-season NHL career in Toronto, racking up 640 points (332 goals, 308 assists) over 1,034 games. He was a four-time all-star and member of the last Maple Leafs team to win the Stanley Cup in the 1966-67 season.
A consistent offensive threat, Ellis had 11 seasons with 20 or more goals and surpassed the 30-goal mark twice.
Novak Djokovic's performance was so poor on Sunday that even the 24-time Grand Slam champion admitted it was “concerning.” Djokovic was upset by No. 29 seed Alejandro Tabilo in the third round of the Italian Open.
It was Djokovic's first match since accidentally getting hit on the head by a water bottle while signing autographs after his opening win on Friday.
“The way I felt on the court today was just completely like a different player entered into my shoes. Just no rhythm, no tempo, no balance whatsoever on any shot. It's a bit concerning,” Djokovic said
While Djokovic had said he was “fine” after the water bottle incident, it was an unusually off-key performance from the Serb as he tries to step up his game on clay before attempting to defend his title at the French Open, which starts on May 26.
“I was going for kind of easy training yesterday. I didn't feel anything, but I also didn't feel the same,” Djokovic said.
“Today under high stress, it was quite bad — not in terms of pain, but in terms of this balance. Just no co-ordination. Completely different player from two nights ago ... I don't know. I have to do medical checkups and see what's going on.”