NBA Draft Lottery results: Detroit Pistons and 3 other big losers in lottery draw

If any of you know a Detroit Pistons fan, please be sure to give that person a hug. Forget the fact that they've made the postseason just twice in the last decade. Forget the fact that they've failed to win at least 30 games in each of the last five years. Their lack of Draft Lottery luck is utterly insane.

Yes, they won the lottery in 2021 and got to select Cade Cunningham, but it's as if they've been punished to no end since. The Pistons had the No. 1 odds at landing the No. 1 overall pick in the draft after finishing with a 14-68 record, the worst in the NBA, and they fell to No. 5.

This isn't the first time this has happened. In fact, it's happened three years in a row. They selected Jaden Ivey at No. 5 in 2022 and Ausar Thompson at No. 5 last year. Good players with bright futures for sure, but they weren't No. 1 picks for a reason. Consistently finishing with one of, if not the worst record in the league only to fall four slots in the lottery is just an extremely tough pill to swallow.

The Pistons were the biggest loser, but were far from the only one. These three teams can also be labeled as losers after the lottery results were revealed.

3) The Trail Blazers are big losers in lottery draw

The Portland Trail Blazers entered year one of their rebuild after trading Damian Lillard last offseason and finished with a 21-61 record, last in the Western Conference. They have a solid core with players like last year's No. 3 pick Scoot Henderson, Anfernee Simons, and Shaedon Sharpe, and they had a great opportunity to add to that with two lottery picks at their disposal.

The first one revealed was the pick that they had from the Golden State Warriors. Nobody expected that pick to move up as it had the worst odds to win the lottery, and it didn't, but what happened right after should make Blazers fans mad.

The Atlanta Hawks won the lottery in shocking fashion considering they were a Play-In team and jumped from the 13th-best odds all the way to the No. 1 overall pick. While that's good for Atlanta, it's a tough pill for a team like the Portland Trail Blazers to swallow.

Then, their own pick, which had the fourth-best odds leading into the draft, fell to No. 7. Having two top 14 picks is never a bad thing, but it could've been a lot better. They were one spot away from the team that wound up winning the lottery, and their good pick fell three slots. Their future is still bright, but they could've had much better lottery luck.

2) The Hornets had poor lottery luck after success last season

Things are looking up for the Charlotte Hornets. Not only do they have LaMelo Ball, a star player when healthy, but they took Brandon Miller with the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA Draft last season. It was a selection criticized by many but it wound up being the right pick as Miller had a strong rookie season.

Having Ball and Miller surrounded by a strong rim protector in Mark Williams and a new head coach, Charles Lee, gives Hornets fans reason to be optimistic. Just imagine if they were able to land another high-end pick.

Charlotte went 21-61 last season and had the third-best odds at landing the No. 1 overall pick. Instead of moving up or even staying at No. 3, the Hornets fell. Not only did they fall, but they fell out of the top five and will be selecting at No. 6 overall. Is that horrible? No, but again, it could've been so much better.

1) No team needed a little bit of a luck more than the Raptors

The biggest losers not named the Pistons are undoubtedly the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors needed lottery luck more than anybody, arguably including the Pistons, and they did not get it.

The Raptors completely collapsed down the stretch to finish with a record of 25-57 on the season. They had the sixth-best odds at the No. 1 overall pick, but most importantly, they just needed to find a way to stick at No. 6. The Raptors pick that they traded to the San Antonio Spurs at the 2022-23 trade deadline for Jakob Poeltl was top-six protected. If it landed in the top six, they would've kept it. If it fell, that pick was going to the Spurs. Of course, it fell, making a bad trade look even worse.

The Raptors pick fell to No. 8 overall, giving Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs two picks in the top eight. The lottery was a resounding success for the Spurs while the Raptors are arguably even bigger losers than the Pistons. They still do have a first-round pick from the Pacers that they got in the Pascal Siakam trade, but that'll be toward the bottom of the first round.

The Raptors could've really used a high-end prospect to pair alongside Scottie Barnes but will have to go through another year of losing to potentially get said prospect.