ten thoughts on the nba draft lottery
It took me a few days for me to collect my thoughts re: May 12's NBA Draft Lottery, so I'm only getting around to posting this today.
I regret nothing.
My ten thoughts in no particular order (except there is one, kind of):
π© The Mavs getting #1 is shady. This will be the fuel for many a conspiracy theory, especially if Cooper Flagg is as good as we all hope he will be.
π© The Spurs getting #2 is shady. No one gets luckier than the Spurs when it comes to getting choice picks in consequential entry drafts. I'm not saying there's something afoot, but where there's smoke...
π‘ The Sixers getting #3 is infuriating. Every year a good team has a nightmare season and ends up in the lottery, but this team getting #3 is particularly hard to swallow for reasons including but not limited to that their tanking was so blatant and egregious (as was Utah's, and neither team was punished). Yes, as a Raptors fan I hate the Sixers on principle, but also, late in the season I came to the (unfortunate) conclusion that when Embiid and Paul George weren't playing I actually enjoyed watching this Sixers team play. Now that my Raptors glasses are back on, I am pissed that they're going add the likes of Bailey or Edgecombe to Maxey, Edwards, Bona, McCain, Butler, JHS, and whoever. That's a good young core!
π€ Charles Lee and Jeff Peterson have done good things for Charlotte, by which I mean they seemed more like a professional basketball franchise this past season (the Mark Williams trade debacle notwithstanding). I mention this because the instinct here was originally to say something like "Charlotte is going to ruin VJ Edgecombe's career before it starts" but maybe... they... won't? Maybe they've figured out how to do it? And maybe they will be smart enough to unload LaMelo before too long?
π€·π½ββοΈ I have no idea what Washington should do with #6 and I don't think they know either. My Wizards fan buddy is equally confused. Conventional thinking would suggest Kneuppel or maybe Maluach, but I honestly don't know what the Wizards think of their team at present, but it merits mention that I am very high on Kyshawn George.
π My Raptors falling to #9 was disappointing. That said, the Raptors' draft history at #9: TMac, DeMar, Poeltl.
π¬ Brooklyn picking ahead of Toronto is worrying. I can see them taking Maluach or Queen, and considering it's possible that one of Maluach or Queen will already be gone (Washington, NOP), the Raps might not get one of the two best bigs. Thomas Sorber is rising, but IDK if he's got the upside of the other two, and I think we need a particular kind of successor to Poeltl.
π¦ If Khaman Maluach falls to the Raptors at #9 (somehow) baby, you've got a stew going. I know what I wrote about this exact thing yesterday but whatever. I contain multitudes. (Also, as I told Donna, Maluach β Koloko.) That said, I know I'm hoping against hope, and #9 is a tricky spot in any draft. The last five #9 picks: Zach Edey, Taylor Hendricks, Jeremy Sochan, Davion Mitchell, Deni Avdija. That's not bad!
π I'm in two dynasty leagues, and I have picks in this draft. My rebuilding team (LAC) owns the 1.2, 1.17, and 2.15 picks. My good team (SAS) owns the 2.11 and 2.24 picks. It is hard for me to think about the draft lottery without trying to figure out what I'm going to do (besides taking Dylan Harper at 1.2), but I am definitely keeping my eye on a few specific guys to target in the second round.
βοΈ Foreign-born prospective first- and second-rounders I am most curious about at present from both a "where will they go?" standpoint and a "I have a bunch of dynasty draft picks" standpoint: Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, Ben Saraf, Hugo GonzΓ‘lez, Rocco Zikarsky. There's another guy who is interesting but I swore to my guy Mitzy (not his real name) that I'd keep it under wraps and I keep my promises.
BALL
IS
LIFE