For the 35th year, the NBA Draft Lottery came and went.
For many casual basketball fans the lottery was like a Ben Simmons pull up from anywhere outside the key, ignored.
However, for fans of woeful teams, and the Warriors, the draft lottery was our version of the playoffs.
As each team is read aloud all you can do is pray that your team got lucky and has leapfrogged into the golden top four spots. Maybe this will be the year that your team is saved by a star prospect and next year you’ll be one of the fans completely ignoring the existence of the lottery.
For the Timberwolves and the Warriors – who have seemingly scammed the league into a top four pick – a year of bad basketball paid off holding spots one and two respectively. For the Hornets and the Bulls, a jump into the top four seems like the perfect way to get themselves back on track. But will this really help them?
For some teams the Draft Lottery has become a regular occurrence. The Sacramento Kings, who after an uninspiring bubble performance, are back in the lottery for the record 13th year in a row.
In that 13-year span, they’ve drafted names like Demarcus Cousins, Hassan Whiteside, Isaiah Thomas and De’Aaron Fox. But they’ve also drafted names like Willie Cauley-Stein, seven picks before Devin Booker, or Marquese Chriss, three picks before Domantas Sabonis, or what will likely be one of the greatest draft night fumbles, picking Marvin Bagley over Luka Doncic, Trae Young, and Jaren Jackson Jr
Yet, every year, the Kings come back to the lottery in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, a jump into the top four picks will be the ticket back to the playoffs. But do they and all bad NBA teams really need it?
This year the Denver Nuggets were the three seed behind the two LA powerhouses and the year before the two seed behind the stacked Warriors. Their team, led by second-round pick Nikola Jokic, has become a force in the loaded west for years to come.
The Nuggets front office have managed to create a successful NBA roster with only three players that were picked in the Draft Lottery: Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr and Noah Vonleh (selected by the Timberwolves). A perfect example of how draft position comes second to draft scouting.
Slam Online recently named their All-Bubble first and second teams. Only three of the ten players listed are top four picks in their draft years. The rest are not even top ten picks, excluding Damian Lillard.
Although a top four pick increases your chance of getting the best prospect it doesn’t always equate to the best NBA player in the draft. In a year where the draft class lacks depth, it seems that a top four pick would be paramount to getting the best out of the draft.
However, with proper scouting and the correct team environment, teams will be able to secure a great NBA player irrespective of the draft position.
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Roar Rookie
I enjoy the draft but you're right that the better franchises don't rely on it. The teams that impress me the most are the ones that really find and develop players kind of out of nowhere: Miami and Toronto are the two that come to mind, but it's part of the Spurs amazing success too. This draft is being talked down a fair bit. Haven't seen much of the players, but Wiseman and Deni Hadja (is that the spelling?) look pretty good from the highlights i've seen.
ZacM
Roar Rookie
100% agree with this. Majority of the time the good front offices are able to build a contender irrespective of draft positioning over several drafts, likewise the poorly run teams will always find a way to make poor draft choices. I had no idea about the minimal amount of lottery picks present in the current Denver Nuggets squad; a credit to their brilliant front office. Love that you've talked about how high draft position isn't everything because it isn't talked about enough the value that is found outside the lottery!
Davico
Roar Pro
No standouts in this draft class really and they have all missed out on the opportunity play in the NCAA tourney so it may be a bit of a lottery this year. Pardon the pun.
Samuel Laffy
Roar Guru
Oh for sure - just the pick would never cut it - it'd have to be a combination of say Carter/Gafford/Porter Jr (or insert which ever role the club they're dealing with wants or needs) and a future pick to get a 'star' to the Bulls. Hornets have less ability to do this seeing as they locked Scary Terry Rozier into a big deal (I cannot see him leading a team to playoff success, no offence to Terry....) but I reckon they need a better big man to have any chance of competing - I don't think Cody Zeller, Bismack Biyombo, and Willy Hernangomez send much fear through the competition.
Ben Gray
Roar Rookie
I think it's really interesting that you think the Bulls or Hornets will be able to leverage their pick for a star. I agree that especially the Bulls already have a lot of young talent and are lacking established stars to help the young players grow. However, in a weaker class, I don't believe there are many teams that are willing to give up a star for just the pick. The warriors on the other hand would 100% be able to couple one of their key pieces and a pick to obtain another great star for their team.
Samuel Laffy
Roar Guru
The winners of the top four spots in the draft are easily the winners - especially because all the teams could either keep or trade their picks depending on what direction they want to go in. Especially the Bulls or Hornets who might view their squad as having enough talented young players and they could leverage a 'star' using their pick as trade bait. Warriors might look at Curry/Klay/Green and trade to try to build another 'super squad' or draft to get someone like Wiseman who could grow into the dominant big man they might want. Definite losers are Pistons and Knicks who were more likely than not to get Top 5 picks, but dropped to 7 and 8. They can still get some good players at those picks (we all know drafting is an inexact science) but a marquee pick would've given them some much-needed positive publicity!