The Detroit Pistons won the NBA draft lottery Tuesday night and the right to pick No. 1 in the 2021 draft.
TFW YOU GET THE NUMBER ONE PICK#DETROITUP pic.twitter.com/0CNA0J2bxR
– Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) June 23, 2021
The Pistons will be followed by the Houston Rockets and Cleveland Cavaliers, with the Toronto Raptors and Orlando Magic completing the top five.
The Rockets (17-55), Pistons (20-52) and Magic (21-51) entered the lottery with the best odds of getting the first pick, at 14.0%.
The draft will take place on July 29 on ESPN and ABC.
The rest of the top 10 include Orlando; Oklahoma City Thunder; Golden State Warriors, which gets the Minnesota Timberwolves pick; Orlando, who gets the Chicago Bulls pick; Sacramento Kings; New Orleans Pelicans.
Charlotte Hornets, San Antonio Spurs, Indiana Pacers and Golden State, with their own selection, round out the lottery picks.
Detroit, after picking three players in the first round of last year’s draft, Killian Hayes (seventh), Isaiah Stewart (16 °) and Saddiq bey (19th), you will now have the opportunity to add a high-level talent to your mix. It will be the Pistons’ first top-five pick since they led Darko Milicic second overall in 2003, and their third in the past 40 years. They also led Grant Hill third overall in 1994.
Detroit has the first overall pick for the first time since it selected Hall of Fame center Bob Lanier of St. Bonaventure University in 1970.
The Rockets, after reaching the Playoffs in the past eight seasons, saw things go in a completely different direction this season after switching to James harden to the Brooklyn Nets for a bevy of draft picks in January. But after finishing with the worst record in the NBA, Houston got a bit of luck Tuesday, allowing it to immediately begin replenishing its coffers around the center. Christian wood with an elite young talent.
Cleveland, after choosing fifth in the past two seasons, received a dose of lottery luck this time around, as the Cavaliers hope to return to the Playoffs in the Eastern Conference next season with whoever they choose, plus the young guards. Collin sexton Y Darius garland. the eaves Isaac okoro and the pivot Jarrett allen.
It was a miserable season for the Raptors, who saw what was easily the most successful stretch in franchise history – seven straight Playoff appearances, including the 2019 NBA title – come to a standstill this season. Playing in Tampa, Florida, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Raptors endured a stretch of close losses to start the season, then a massive fight of COVID cases between players and coaches just as the team returned to .500 midway sinking his chances of returning to the postseason.
On Tuesday night, however, the Raptors got a payoff for that ugly season as they jumped into the top four for a chance to add a premium young player to a team that’s ready to win right now around their totular base Fred VanVleet and the eaves Pascal Siakam Y OG Anunoby.
The Magic switched to a rebuild mode this year, trading Nikola Vucevic to Chicago, Evan fournier to Boston and Aaron Gordon to Denver. Now the Magic will have two opportunities to add young talent to their core thanks to their own pick, the fifth overall pick, and that of the Bulls, which he got as a result of the Vucevic trade when he didn’t jump to the top four picks.
No team had more to win in this draft than Oklahoma City. The Thunder were the only team that had a chance to get two top-five picks if they got the Houston pick, which would have happened if the Rockets didn’t move up in the draft.
In the end, though, Houston was lucky, leaving the Thunder with their own pick, sixth overall, in addition to Boston’s No. 16 overall pick, which they picked up in last week’s trade that sent to Al Horford back to the Celtics for Kemba walker, and Miami’s 18th overall pick, as they continue to rebuild around the rising star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Timberwolves knew they would give up their pick this year if they missed out on the top three picks, or an unprotected pick next season if they didn’t.
However, they ended up paying off that debt this season, which means Golden State will have two lottery picks this year: Minnesota’s seventh overall pick, plus its own 14th pick overall. Together with the pivot James Wiseman, last year’s second overall pick, the Warriors hope they can land a couple of players to help build a long-term bridge to a future beyond Golden State’s Big 3. Stephen Curry, Klay thompson Y Draymond green or potentially give them the weapons to make immediate improvements and try to return to the playoffs after missing the last two seasons.
Every year, the teams that jump to the top four feel lucky on lottery night. This year, however, that sentiment will only intensify with the high-level talent available in this draft, with several highly qualified prospects for the teams at the top to choose from. With a month to go before the draft, the top four players available by consensus, in some order, are Oklahoma State guard Cade Cunningham, Gonzaga guard Jalen Suggs, USC center Evan Mobley and guard Jalen. Green, who was an inaugural member of the NBA’s G- in the League Ignite Program.
The combination of that talent, as well as the fact that three different top-8 picks were up for grabs due to previous trades, made this year’s lottery one of the most anticipated in years.
Twenty percent of the League encountered pins and needles entering the festivities Tuesday night as a result of those earlier deals. The Rockets due to the trade of Russell westbrook With Oklahoma City two years ago, he would keep his pick if he fell into the top four or send the fifth pick in the draft to the Thunder after finishing with the worst record in the NBA. Meanwhile, the Bulls would keep their pick if they fell into the top four or give up a mid-lottery pick to the Orlando Magic after trading Vucevic on this year’s trade deadline, and the Timberwolves would keep their pick if they fell between. the top 3, or an unprotected pick next year, due to the Russell trade.
Ultimately, it was Houston, Orlando and Golden State that got things broken Tuesday night. As a result, six teams – Oklahoma City (3), Houston (3), Golden State (2), Orlando (2) and New York (2) – have control over 12 of the 30 first-round picks in this year’s draft. anus.
Oklahoma City, which has 18 first-round picks in the next seven drafts, has three in this year’s draft: its own pick; Miami’s 18th pick, which he received as part of a pick trade with Houston since his pick fell into the top four, and Boston’s 16th pick thanks to last week’s Horford-for-Walker trade. Houston, meanwhile, has its own pick plus picks 23 (Portland) and 24 (Milwaukee) / went from having the worst record in the league to having three first-round picks out of the lottery – Miami’s pick at No. 18 overall, as part of that selection he traded with Oklahoma City, plus selections 23 (Portland) and 24 (Milwaukee).