Winning the NBA Draft Lottery may not be as important this year. This is a draft with some diamonds in the rough but no clear franchise foundation. There is no Victor Wembaneyama or Anthony Edwards at the top of this draft. The theme of this draft will be smart evaluation and player development.
Still, it's better to win the lottery than lose. The GM can clear the board and give his players a shot.
Look at the winners and losers. 2024 NBA Draft Lottery to be held in Chicago on Sunday.
Loser: Detroit Pistons
Why do the basketball gods hate Detroit?
For the second year in a row, they had the worst record in the NBA, giving them their best chance to earn the No. 1 seed. The Pistons have fallen to fifth place for the second year in a row, as far as possible in the NBA system. In the Paolo Banchero/Chet Holmgren draft two years ago, the Pistons had the third-worst record in the NBA and fell to fifth in the lottery. In June of this year, it ranked 5th for the third consecutive year.
NBA experts and analysts like to point out that Smart draft picks and player development that brought Minnesota and Oklahoma City. It was late in the second round of the playoffs, but both sides had some luck. Minnesota won the lottery twice and drafted Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns. Oklahoma City was lucky enough to get the No. 2 pick in the lottery and selected Holmgren, who was key to their success this season.
Detroit can't catch a break. He fought Cade Cunningham a few years ago, but the past two years have been tough, and it's much harder to come up with a winner when Blake is at a disadvantage.
Winner: Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks had a 3% chance of getting the No. 1 pick and a less than 10% chance of finishing in the top three.
Atlanta is currently eligible through June 27th. They had the No. 1 pick for the first time in franchise history.
The timing coincides with an offseason that is expected to see a lot of roster shakeup. Atlanta is expected to try to trade Trae Young and, if he doesn't work out, try to trade Dejounte Murray and reshape the roster. With the No. 1 pick, the Hawks have the ability to use Quinn on the wing, whether it's on a wing like Zachary Lizacher, a stretch-five center who can protect the rim like Alex Sarr, or someone else. We are able to acquire high-quality players who can be part of our team. Snyder and his team plan to build in Atlanta.
With a smart trade that brings back a better fit and quality player, and a quality No. 1 draft pick, the Hawks' future suddenly looks brighter.
Loser: Toronto Raptors
Their pick was top-six protected and they had a 46% chance of keeping it or moving up. they didn't. The Raptors were looking to increase their chances of keeping the pick after an ugly showing late in the season, but they fell to No. 8 in the draft, meaning this year's pick will go to the Spurs.
The Raptors will still use the Pacers' pick to select No. 19.
Now that Toronto has control over next year's pick, they have an interesting choice to make (if they had kept it this year, the Spurs would have gotten it next year). They have talented players like Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, and Immanuel Quickley on the roster, but if things start slow, the Raptors can tank for the best possible lottery odds Would it be better to do so? Several franchise players are expected to be selected at the top of the 2025 draft.
Winner: Houston Rockets
Houston doesn't want to use a pick this year, but I'm going to trade it for a future pick On the other hand, they are using free agency to bring in players who can help them even more now.
The Rockets owned the Brooklyn Nets' pick, moving up to No. 3, making it much easier to trade the pick (this year, the Rockets' own pick went to the Spurs in a separate deal). It's not ideal to do it at the top, but doing it at No. 3 is much better than if you had a pick after No. 8 or something.
Winner: Washington Wizards
The equation here is simple. The Washington Wizards desperately need more talent on their roster, ideally young and athletic talent. Washington currently has the No. 2 pick and could acquire a player who fits that mold.
There are a lot of things that need to change in Washington as well, but this is a good start.