Lakers could be having a Ball
Technically, Boston won the NBA lottery thanks to the Nets. But the Lakers were clearly the biggest winners Tuesday night at the Hilton in Midtown.
Los Angeles held onto the second overall pick, followed by the 76ers, who would have swiped Los Angeles’ pick as well had it fallen outside the top three. And it could put the Lakers in position to draft UCLA star Lonzo Ball, just like his father, LaVar, has been telling everybody who will listen.
If the Lakers hadn’t been in the top three, they not only would have lost that pick to the Sixers, but next year’s first-rounder to Orlando. And when assistant commissioner Mark Tatum called out the Suns as the fourth pick, Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson flashed that familiar smile and did a little shimmy.
“Oh man, when he called out No. 4 and he said it wasn’t us, I said, ‘OK, that’s all I care about.’ I didn’t know where we were going to land from there, but I was like, ‘OK, I can breathe now.’ So it was a good night for us,’’ said Johnson, adding the pick won’t impact free agency but may affect who they take with pick No. 28.
“You don’t understand what’s been going on in L.A. They’ve been like ‘Oh my God, we blew it.’ We won five in a row and everybody thought we were crazy. Now the fans back home can breathe a little easier right now.”
Johnson said the Lakers have talked with Markelle Fultz, largely expected to be the top pick, but not yet met with Ball. But Johnson is on record as saying that the antics of Ball’s father won’t impact their evaluation.
That’s good news for Big Baller Brand, the family label the elder Ball has been pushing even harder after the three big shoe companies — Nike, Under Armour and Adidas — spurned Lonzo’s demand for a $1 billion family deal that would also cover LaVar’s young- er sons, LeAngelo and LaMelo. Ball’s signature shoe has an opening price of $495 and he could be more marketable in L.A. than Phoenix, who ended up with the fourth pick.
For a loaded Celtics team that earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference and opens the conference finals against Cleveland on Wednesday, it was a windfall.
“And it’s still going. We’ve got a game [Wednesday]. What a great time to be a Celtics fan,’’ Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck said. “To squeeze in the lottery and win the pick I don’t know what’s happening here. It’s pretty amazing.
“This is quite the time. But thinking back to the time the Nets were trying to go for a championship then. That’s what you have to do when you have a chance. Respect to them for going all in and trying. We’ve had to wait a long time for our turn, and now it’s our turn.”
The Sixers got the third pick to add to their young nucleus.