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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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Apr 12, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings coach Dave Joerger congratulates center Willie Cauley-Stein (00) during a NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center. The Clippers defeated the Kings 115-95. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 12, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings coach Dave Joerger congratulates center Willie Cauley-Stein (00) during a NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center. The Clippers defeated the Kings 115-95. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

Winner: Sacramento Kings

Much like with talking about the Sixers, you might be confused as to why the Kings are a winner given some of the circumstances. After all, they actually won the third-overall pick in the draft. But thanks to an atrocious trade, they had to swap with Philly and move back to the fifth pick. While that may be the case, though, this is a franchise that could really start to turn things around given the overall position they’re in following the 2017 NBA Draft Lottery.

As stated, this is a deep draft class that could have stars and high-level contributors littered throughout the entirety of the first round. So for the Kings to walk away from the Lottery with two picks in the top 1, including the fifth-overall pick is huge. It’s especially huge when you consider the fact that they could’ve lost what is now the No. 10 pick if it had fallen in the 12-14 range.

Following the DeMarcus Cousins trade, it was clear that the Kings were, for lack of a better phrase, starting from square one. They were going to try and find another star and build from scratch. Having two top-10 picks in a loaded class to join two other former lottery picks with high hopes (Buddy Hield and Willie Cauley-Stein) is a great way to go about accomplishing that.

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Of course, this is the Kings we’re talking about and you can almost always count on a bone-headed move coming down the line. So if they go out and draft two busts, fans wouldn’t be surprised. But as of the NBA Draft Lottery before that happens, they’re definitely a winner.

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