Post NBA draft lottery:

When the New Orleans Pelicans got the 1st pick last season, it established the idea that these new flatten odds could legitimately stir the order teams draft in and this year didn’t disappoint. There are a couple squads that may have the fortunes of their franchise forever changed because of a couple lucky ping pong balls… then there’s a team like the Knicks that unfortunately go unlucky in the draft lottery once again. Here are the results of the draft lottery:

1. Minnesota Timberwolves

2. Golden State Warriors

3. Charlotte Hornets

4. Chicago Bulls

5. Cleveland Cavaliers

6. Atlanta Hawks

7. Detroit Pistons

8. New York Knicks

9. Washington Wizards

10. Phoenix Suns

11. San Antonio Spurs

12. Sacramento Kings

13. New Orleans Pelicans

14. Boston Celtics

My thoughts:

•How about them Timberwolves? This is the first time in franchise history the Wolves have gotten a better pick than initially projected before the lottery. Just a year ago, they only had Towns and a struggling Andrew Wiggins. In just one, Gersson Rosas, their President of Basketball Operations, has turned over that roster. They traded up for Jarrett Culver, traded for players such as Malik Beasley and D’Angelo Russell at the trade deadline, now suddenly have the first pick. I’m thinking they’ll keep the pick because there shouldn’t be many, if any stars available this summer. The Timberwolves suddenly have one of the brightest futures in the West.

• Even though the Warriors didn’t get the top pick as they were projected to, #2 is a good spot for them. If they keep their pick, there’s a good chance they’ll take Wiseman and he will still probably be there at 2. The second pick also might have value to execute a blockbuster trade to bring a star into the Bay. The Warriors are very interesting this summer.

• Good luck going to Charlotte and Minnesota? How odd is that? The Hornets are in desperate need of a franchise talent and they are in position to grab one. Most executives believe the most likely franchise talents are LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, and James Wiseman. At the third pick, Charlotte gets to choose between those three and develop them into a potential start for them. A player like LaMelo Ball would give buzz (no pun intended) to that franchise and we can see Lavar and MJ play 1 on 1! You can slide in James Wiseman at the center spot, perfect fit. Also, a young, physically gifted prospect like Anthony Edwards with Michael Jordan would be interesting as well.

• What do you know? The Bulls actually can get a pick other than 7. After slipping in the lottery last year, the draft Gods made it up to Chicago. Taking a small Ford makes a lot of sense here. Ball, Wiseman, and Edwards should be off the board here. Not to mention, they have White, Lavine, Markkanen, and Carter Jr. covering the 1, 2 4, and 5 spots, respectively. Okoro or Advija make sense here but I like Advija here because he’s the best player available, plays small forward, and helps their playmaking issues.

• The Cavaliers might be fortunate to be at #5. The last time they won the top pick in an uncertain draft they took the biggest reach at the first pick we’ve ever seen in Anthony Bennett, who turned out to be a massive bust. Right here, guys like Toppin and Okongwu make sense and they aren’t reaches. Who knows? Maybe Deni will still be here.

• Not being able to get a high enough pick to grab Edwards, an Atlanta native, is unfortunate for Atlanta. At this #6 pick, I would love for them to grab another ball handler, they struggle scoring and creating offensively without Trae, they actually had the worst offensive rating in the league with Trae off the court. I love Hayes here.

• You have to feel bad for Detroit fans. There probably isn’t a roster with less talent than Detroit, they needed a high and talent as bad as anybody in this draft. Point guard is a clear need for Detroit and they still will possibly be able to pick between talented guards like Hayes and Haliburton, in a year where Detroit slips, they are lucky to slip in a deep point guard class.

• Oh no, oh no, bad luck terrorizes the knicks once again. D’Angelo Russell maybe have provided good luck for Minnesota, but Leon Rose did not provide that for New York. It’ll be interesting to see how this new New York management draft this year and going forward. If the Knicks don’t like anyone at this spot, my guess is the 8th pick could be a potential asset in a CP3 trade.

This draft may have some uncertainty but there’s certainly high-end talent; it’ll be interesting to see what these teams in the lottery do with their draft picks.