The draft lottery is an exciting night when reality sets back in
for most of last season’s shitty teams. This is a deep draft, and any
lottery pick is valuable this season, but the coveted slots are in the top
three, where a team will ensure itself of landing either Andrew Wiggins, Jabari
Parker, or Joel Embiid.
Who deserves one of these top three spots? You don’t deserve a great player just because
you managed to have a horrible season.
Sorry, Milwaukee, but I don’t want to see if Wiggins can somehow flourish
as a Buck. Just stay excited about The
Greek Freak and hope that Dante Exum is the dark horse. With those parameters in mind, we need Jabari
Parker to go to Utah. They deserve each other, and after being denied the
ecstacy of Jimmer-Mania, Utah can’t afford to let Jabari slip past them.
Wherever Utah needs to pick to land Jabari, that’s what America should support.
Second,
I hope New Orleans beats the odds and gets a top three pick. New Orleans
traded Nerlens Noel and their pick this year for Jrue Holiday. They put
minimal protection on that pick, so the only way New Orleans keeps it is if it
wins one of the top three spots. I’m almost convinced that New Orleans
will pick the wrong player even if they have a top pick, but the fact of the matter
is that Anthony Davis deserves better. Put Wiggins with Davis and the
Pelicans are a legit team (or they remain a random assortment of players with
unmeshable skillsets…time will tell). Without a first round pick, New
Orleans can only improve in the offseason by putting HGH in Eric Gordon’s knee
and pretending that Tyreke Evans can shoot and play defense. Nobody likes
superstars bouncing around, but Davis will be forced to leave New Orleans in a
few years unless the Pelicans catch a break. If Davis is playing, then
New Orleans simply won’t be bad enough to get a top pick, and they will be left
to late lottery and mid-first rounders. Their recent history in that
regard isn’t strong (Austin Rivers, Cole Aldrich, Darren Collison, and Julian
Wright). The Thunder landed Westbrook and Harden after drafting
Durant. Let’s hope the Pelicans are able to add someone meaningful to
complement Davis. The Spurs can’t last forever, and as the heir apparent
to Duncan, Davis needs some structure and talent to help the Pelicans become
the New Spurs.
I’d
like to see the Celtics snag a top three pick, as well. With potential for Rondo to have a bounce
back season now that he’s farther removed from his ACL tear, and Brad “Wild
Man” Stevens at the helm, the Celtics figure to be ready to improve quickly
with a marquee addition. They also have
all of the Nets’ draft picks through 2023, so they will be well-armed to avoid
squandering a top-notch talent.
One
season of the Lakers sucking isn’t enough.
I’d rather see them languish another year or two before they return to
championship form. Plus, L.A. will bring
in free agents easily, so they don’t need breaks through the draft too. If New Orleans is unable to get a top pick,
I’m a fan of Philly getting Wiggins and using the would-be Pelicans pick on
Aaron Gordon, forming the greatest NBA Jam tandem of all-time.
Posts
