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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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Danny Ainge, Boston Celtics, trade deadline
Sep 25, 2015; Waltham, MA, USA; Boston Celtics GM Danny Ainge (left) and co-owner Wyc Grousbeck, during media day at the Boston Celtic Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports /

Winner: Boston Celtics (Loser by proxy: Cleveland Cavaliers)

Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge has been lambasted in recent years for clutching the Brooklyn Nets picks they owned and not moving them for other assets. Now that they have the top-overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, those who have raked him over the coals should probably be going to get him some burn ointment. You could make a viable argument that there’s no team in a better long-term position than the Celtics right now after the NBA Draft Lottery.

If they hold onto the No. 1 pick, they’re going to have an absolutely lethal backcourt on their hands. Isaiah Thomas has proven all season and into the playoffs that he’s not a flash in the pan, but a viable star in this league. And with the perpetually underrated Avery Bradley in the fold with nice supplementary pieces, adding either Fultz or Ball would be huge for them.

But then you factor in the fact that they could also use the No. 1 pick in a blockbuster trade and their position is even more enticing. The Celtics have long been linked to the likes of Paul George, Blake Griffin and Jimmy Butler. So with those guys potentially being on the market this offseason, Boston and Ainge now have a trump-card asset to throw into the mix.

As a result of all of this, you have to call the Cleveland Cavaliers a mini-loser in this. The Celtics and Cavs meet in the Eastern Conference Finals starting on Wednesday. And by all accounts, Cleveland should have no trouble getting past them, despite Boston having home-court advantage. While that may be so, though, the No. 1 pick and what it brings the Celtics severely lessens the stranglehold that the Cavaliers have on the Eastern Conference. Point blank, the NBA Draft Lottery put them on notice that their wide open window to dominate the East just narrowed a bit.

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