NBA Draft Lottery 2018: Winners and losers

By Ian Levy | May 15, 2018

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Winner: Anyone interested in the No. 8 pick

The primary focus of the Cavaliers with the Nets pick will likely be trying to convince LeBron James to stay. If that pick landed in the top-3 it seems likely that the move would be a player like Bagley, Ayton or Doncic — someone who could help the Cavaliers be more competitive next year and provide a Plan B for a hypothetical future without LeBron.

Those sorts of options just aren’t there at No. 8. The Cavaliers could take a surer thing like Mikal Bridges, and risk disappointing LeBron. Or they could swing for a high-upside project like Mo Bamba or Collin Sexton…and risk disappointing LeBron.

It seems more likely than ever that the Cavs are shopping the No. 8 pick to try and land a LeBron-convincing veteran to anchor next year’s team. That’s great news for any team who might be looking to slide up in this year’s draft and get a bit younger.

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