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NBA Draft Lottery 2017: Winners and losers

By Cody Williams

Apr 2, 2017; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks power forward Kristaps Porzingis (6) high fives fans as he enters the court for warmups prior to the game against the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 2, 2017; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks power forward Kristaps Porzingis (6) high fives fans as he enters the court for warmups prior to the game against the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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The 2017 NBA Draft Lottery took place on Tuesday night in New York City and some teams walked away winners, while others came out losers

Few times are more stressful for basketball fans than the night of the NBA Draft Lottery. There’s obviously stress involved when you’re dealing with draft picks and positioning at the top. However, with the way teams deal first-round picks these days — or at least they have in recent years — things have become more stressful for fans. The 2017 NBA Draft Lottery was the epitome of such anxiety.

Coming into the Lottery, there was little that was certain. The Boston Celtics, who are currently in the Eastern Conference Finals, had the best odds for the top-overall pick thanks to the famed Paul Pierce trade with the Brooklyn Nets. What’s more, the Philadelphia 76ers had a chance at a big lottery. They would own the Los Angeles Lakers pick if it fell outside of the top-three. What’s more, they had the option to swap with the Sacramento Kings for whichever was the best pick.

There were plenty of other scenarios in play. But when the dust and ping pong balls settled, the Celtics ended up with the No. 1 overall pick. Following them, the Lakers held on and actually jumped up to the second-overall pick with the Sixers behind them at No. 3. You can see the full lottery order here.

Of course, with teams shuffling in terms of the odds versus how the ping pong balls determined the order, some teams came out better than others. Subsequently, let’s take a look at the winners and losers from the 2017 NBA Draft Lottery.

Winner: Los Angeles Lakers

The sweat on the palms of Lakers fans most likely could’ve flooded the Grand Canyon entering the NBA Draft Lottery. Despite landing Brandon Ingram with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 draft, this team is still missing the pieces to get back to their former glory. Thus, having a top-three pick would help the cause a great deal. As mentioned, though, there was the chance that they could lose that pick to the 76ers.

In fact, the Lakers only had a 46.9 percent chance of keeping the pick (Re: staying in the top three). Therefore, the City of Angels let out a huge sigh of relief when Magic Johnson was left standing after picks No. 4-14 had been announced. And now they have the opportunity to get one of the two best players in the draft, albeit whichever the rival Celtics don’t want with the top pick in the draft.

For most, the assumption is that Washington superstar Markelle Fultz will go to Boston with the No. 1 pick. Thus, that leaves the Lakers with the chance to land UCLA sensation Lonzo Ball. We can troll Big Baller Brand and his father all we want, but he’s a great asset for a team like the Lakers. With the young playmakers they have, having a player with the size and ability to facilitate in the manner that Ball can could really take them to the next level under Luke Walton moving forward.

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