The San Antonio Spurs landed what they believe will go down as the biggest lottery prize since LeBron James on Tuesday, acquiring the No. 1 pick in 2023. NBA draftWhich they will surely use to pick an unprecedented prospect in Victor Wembanyama.
Here’s how the lottery order shook out:
| Choose | group | Choose | group |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint Anthony | 8 | Washington |
| 2 | Charlotte | 9 | Utah |
| 3 | Portland | 10 | Dallas |
| 4 | Houston | 11 | Orlando (from Chicago) |
| 5 | Detroit | 12 | Oklahoma City |
| 6 | Orlando | 13 | Toronto |
| 7 | Indiana | 14 | New Orleans |
Now that you’ve got the order, let’s move on to lottery winners and losers.
Winner: Spurs
Twenty-six years later, after the Spurs fell in Tim Duncan, who started a five-title dynasty, San Antonio up and Wembenyama, a player capable of another generation. Not much else to say. San Antonio struck gold here.
Winner: Victor Wembanyama
Wembey has found a good home in San Antonio, where he will be coached by Gregg Popovich and won’t carry the burden of finding a franchise in transition. The Spurs will use everything they have as an organization — a lot — to develop Wembley into a megastar. They’ve done it before with greats like Tim Duncan and David Robinson. Perimeter pieces are in Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell.
Would it be interesting to see Wembanyama paired with LaMelo Ball in Charlotte? of course. Would Detroit fit well on paper with a backcourt in Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey? for sure. But give me the serenity of the Spurs that I may not harbor such hopes. Long term, Wembanyama should feel lucky to have gone this way.
The Pistons enter as one of three teams (Houston and San Antonio) with the highest 14% chance, and they don’t even manage to stay in the top three to play Brandon Miller or Scott Henderson (Miller). The game with Cade Cunningham and Jaden Evie is likely. The Pistons will go No. 5 instead. A serious rest.
New York would have dropped the Mavericks’ 2023 pick, as the final piece of the Crispin Porzigis trade, to No. 10. Dallas puts it. New York is now in line to get Dallas’ pick either next year or in 2025, with a top-10 guard on both, but Dallas expects to be a playoff team again soon. This was arguably New York’s best shot to end up with another lottery pick from Dallas.
This can go either way. Reports indicate that Portland was on the one hand This They are close to picking up the No. 1 pick, which I guess one could argue, makes them a tough luck in the Wembley playoffs.
Having said that, the Blazers shot 10.5% on 10.5% shots, fifth-best on the board, so jumping into the top-three is a huge win in my book. With highly coveted point guard Scott Henderson going No. 2, there’s a good chance LaMelo will be No. 3 with the Hornets having the ball.
That bodes well for Portland, which will surely want to trade this pick to equip Damian Lillard with a competitive roster. With Henderson still playing, this pick is worth a lot on the trade market right now. This isn’t the No. 1 pick, but this is a blue-chip asset Portland needs.
Houston joins Detroit and San Antonio as the top odds for the top overall pick, leapfrogging Portland and Charlotte and falling to No. 4. They were hoping for Wembey, of course, but Scott Henderson (to be tried at point guard here by Kevin Porter Jr.) or Brandon Miller would have been a big consolation. Staying on the three would have guaranteed Houston one of those guys. There is no such chance.
Winner: Hornets
Charlotte jumped from the fourth-best lottery pick to No. 2 and will have a choice between Scoot Henderson and Brandon Miller. Pairing Henderson with LaMelo Ball might seem like an odd fit, but drafting this high means taking the best player available and figuring out who fits later. After all, who knows where Ball will be in Charlotte beyond his rookie contract. Outside of the top three for the Hornets, there are plenty of options here.
Chicago would have to finish in the top four to keep the 2023 pick. That didn’t happen. The Bulls end up with the 11th pick, which is now the final piece of the Nikola Vucevic trade that goes to the Magic. And what a risk it would be for the Bulls to trade for Wendell Carter Jr., Franz Wagner and now Vucevic in 2023 with the 11th overall pick. Aik
Winner: Mavericks
Dallas made it his sole intention to keep this pick alive for the postseason. As mentioned above, if he falls out of the top 10, he would go to New York. He landed right on 10. Dallas breathed a sigh of relief. The tank, embarrassing after being traded for Kyrie Irving, was not for nothing.
Washington, which entered the night with less than 7% odds, dropped to just 11 numbers and reportedly increased its odds to more than 50%.
Man, that’s tough. The Wizards were there to stumble into Wembanyama, and instead came away with a ho-hum No. 8 pick, right where they were positioned to start the night. What a buzz kill.