NBA Draft Lottery 2017: Who each team should take with the No. 1 pick
By John Buhler
The 2017 NBA Draft Lottery will be on Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. ET. What should each lottery-eligible NBA team do if they land the No. 1 overall pick?
It’s that time of the year for some people in the basketball world to go crazy over ping-pong balls. Yes, it is that important in the landscape of the NBA. Tuesday night will be the 2017 NBA Draft Lottery. Representatives for 14 NBA teams in possession of lottery picks will get to see if they can end up with the No. 1 overall pick in a loaded draft.
This looks to be a significantly better rookie class than whatever the NBA got last year. Expect the 2017 NBA Draft to be littered with many viable starting point guard prospects. Shooting on the wing might be hard to find, but there are a handful of solid forwards that could thrive playing the stretch four or five.
Should any of these 14 teams end up winning the 2017 NBA Draft Lottery, what should they do with the No. 1 overall pick? Do they draft the best player in the draft, draft for need or orchestrate a trade to acquire more future assets. Here is a look at what each team in the lottery could do at No. 1 should they win?
Brooklyn Nets (pick swap with Boston Celtics): Markelle Fultz, point guard, Washington Huskies (25.0 percent)
It will be really sad when the Brooklyn Nets end up winning the 2017 NBA Draft Lottery. Though they went a league-worst 20-62 in 2016-17 to end up with the best odds at the No. 1 overall pick (25 percent), the Nets will have to concede their lottery pick to the Atlantic Division rival Boston Celtics.
This is because of the rights to a pick swap the Celtics have over the Nets, stemming from the infamous Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett deal back in summer 2013. Since Boston finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference at 53-29, the Nets will actually end up picking No. 27 because of the pick swap.
So, it does not matter what the Nets want to do at No. 1 should they ‘win’ the lottery. Boston seems to have its mind made up about where it will use its high-end lottery pick from the Nets: point guard.
Boston may have a great starting point guard in Isaiah Thomas, but he doesn’t feel like a player general manager Danny Ainge will be willing to hitch his wagon too long-term. Thomas is undersized at 5-foot-9 and can’t play a lick of defense.
Look for Boston to go with the best overall player in the draft at No. 1 by taking Washington Huskies point guard Markelle Fultz with that selection. Fultz looks to be a solid, offensive-minded point guard with great ball-handling abilities. He could prove to be a respectable defensive player under head coach Brad Stevens’ tutelage.