The Philadelphia 76ers are broken hearted, the Milwaukee Bucks don’t really give a damn and the Cleveland Cavaliers won the draft lottery for the second year in a row, and the third time in the last four years.
The Cavaliers selected Duke guard Kyrie Irving with the No. 1 pick in 2011 and UNLV forward Anthony Bennett with the No. 1 pick in 2013. Cleveland managed to jump up from the No. 9 spot and break the heart of Sam Hinkie and the Philadelphia 76ers.
“It’s a really defining moment for us,” Cavaliers GM David Griffin said.
Cleveland is once again in semi-rebuild, after promoting David Griffin to GM and firing Mike Brown for the second time in a couple of years.
Philly was positioned to have at least the second pick in the draft before the lottery began. Hinkie could sleep at night knowing he would have the services of either Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker.
By only getting the No.3 pick out of the lottery, the Sixers will have to hope the Bucks really love Joel Embiid, or contemplate selecting him with the pick, all while knowing he could never play with Nerlens Noel.
The 76ers also will pick 10th in the draft after acquiring the pick that belonged to the New Orleans Pelicans. The Sixers attained that pick, along with Nerlens Noel, by sending Jrue Holiday to the Pelicans during the 2013 draft.
New Orleans had the 10th-worst record in the league and had a just a 1.1 percent chance of winning the lottery. The Pelicans would have kept the pick had they finished in the top three.
The Hornets got the No. 9 pick from the Pistons as part of a 2012 trade involving shooting guard Ben Gordon. The Pistons pick was top-eight protected, but Detroit slid out of the No. 8 slot in the draft lottery order when the Cavaliers jumped over them.
Here is the full draft order for the June 26 NBA Draft.
1. Cleveland Cavaliers
2. Milwaukee Bucks
3. Philadelphia 76ers
4. Orlando Magic
5. Utah Jazz
6. Boston Celtics
7. Los Angeles Lakers
8. Sacramento Kings
9. Charlotte Hornets (via Detroit Pistons)
10. Philadelphia 76ers (via New Orleans Pelicans)
11. Denver Nuggets
12. Orlando Magic (via New York Knicks)
13. Minnesota Timberwolves
14. Phoenix Suns
15. Atlanta Hawks
16. Chicago Bulls (via Charlotte Hornets)
17. Boston Celtics (via Brooklyn Nets)
18. Phoenix Suns (via Washington Wizards)
19. Chicago Bulls
20. Toronto Raptors
21. Oklahoma City Thunder (via Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers)
22. Memphis Grizzlies
23. Utah Jazz (via Golden State Warriors)
24. Charlotte Hornets (via Portland Trail Blazers)
25. Houston Rockets
26. Miami Heat
27. Phoenix Suns (via Indiana Pacers)
28. Los Angeles Clippers
29. Oklahoma City Thunder
30. San Antonio Spurs
Highlights of the NBA Draft Lottery:
Marcus Smart is a confident young man and I mean that with the utmost respect. Regardless of the grade or projections NBA personnel men want to put on him, Smart is just prepared to ball and lead a team. He’s not sure when he’ll get picked and he doesn’t care. My money is on Sacramento at No. 8.
Dr. J may have represented the 76ers at the draft lottery, but he wasn’t brought up to speed on the fact that the Sixers would receive the Pelicans pick if New Orleans got a selection outside the top 3. The Hall of Famer seemed confused and perplexed at the 76ers getting such a low pick.
Mallory Edens is “The Real MVP” of the NBA Draft Lottery
Mallory Edens, the daughter of Bucks owner Wesley Edens is a flat out star in her own right, and has already gone from 800 to 10K followers since she was shown on the lottery coverage.