For the first time in five years, the Los Angeles Lakers don’t really factor in to the NBA Draft Lottery. Of course this isn’t because the Lakers were back in the playoffs, but rather this season L.A. lost their final draft pick owed from the ill-fated Steve Nash trade.
The pick would go to with either the Boston Celtics or the Philadelphia 76ers, depending on where the Lakers landed in the lottery. If it were to come up at Nos. 2 or 3, the pick would go to Boston. Any other possible scenario would see it go to Philadelphia.
Going into the lottery the Lakers’ pick had a four percent chance of landing in the top-3 and a 1.1 percent chance of being No. 1 overall. The selections were officially revealed Tuesday and the Lakers’ pick wound up going to 76ers at No. 10 overall.
It is obviously unfortunate that a trade from 2012 is still haunting the Lakers in 2018. Having a top-10 pick this summer would have been great to keep building off of what they did this season, but at the very least, it’s finally all in past.
The Lakers aren’t going into this draft empty-handed as they do own both the 25th and 47th overall picks. They have already begun working out potential prospects and considering how well the Lakers have drafted in those areas recently, hopes are high that the franchise will find another gem.
The Phoenix Suns secured the No. 1 overall pick for the first time in franchise history.
NBA Draft Lottery results included below.
1. Phoenix Suns
2. Sacramento Kings
3. Atlanta Hawks
4. Memphis Grizzlies
5. Dallas Mavericks
6. Orlando Magic
7. Chicago Bulls
8. Cleveland Cavaliers
9. New York Knicks
10. Philadelphia 76ers (via Los Angeles Lakers)
11. Charlotte Hornets
12. Los Angeles Clippers (via Detroit Pistons)
13. Los Angeles Clippers
14. Denver Nuggets
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