Pittstop at the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery!

Pittstop at the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery!

The NBA Board of Governors approved change to the lottery system on Sept. 28 2017, that was implemented for the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery. The 14 NBA teams who failed to make the 2019 postseason are eligible for the Lottery. With the new format, the lottery will ensure that the team with the worst record will receive no worse than the fifth pick in the draft. Under the pre-2019 system, the team with the worst record would pick no lower than fourth. The new system will level the odds at the top of the lottery so teams who had the three worst regular-season records will each have a 14% chance of winning the #1 pick in the 2019 Draft. The three teams with the three worst regular-seasons were the New York Knicks with a record of 17-65, and the Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers were tied for the second worst record with a record of 19-63.

This past Tuesday, Pittstop attended the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery event in Chicago,Illinois, where I was able to meet and take pictures with some of the future stars of the NBA. I was able to meet prospects such as the projected #1 overall pick Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish, Tyler Herro, Bol Bol, Coby White, Admiral Schofield, Darius Gland, and many more. I attended a reception beforehand where several NBA executives, owners, current and retired players, rookie prospects, and media members were all in one room conversing with each other and it was a sight to see. The atmosphere was buzzing with excitement ahead of the lottery, prospects chatting it up with each other, being interviewed by the media, food was great, and there were good vibes all across the building. One person I was really looking forward to meeting and got a chance to meet was Adrian Wojnarowski (Woj), a senior NBA writer and contributor for ESPN. Woj is one of Pittstop's favorite writers of all-time, and meeting him was a dream come true.

The actual lottery was shocking and surprising for Pittstop, and I’m sure for a lot of other people in attendance and watching all over the world. There were unexpected drops in picks, like when the Chicago Bulls who had the fourth highest chance to get the #1 pick at 12.5%, dropped all the way to #7, which upsetted the home crowd greatly, and when the New York Knicks who did all that tanking for the #1 pick, got the third overall pick and NY fans including Stephen A. Smith especially was devastated. The most surprised result of the lottery and the winner of the lottery in Pittstop’s opinion was that the #4 pick in the draft went to the Los Angeles Lakers, who originally had a 2% chance at the #1 pick and 9.4% of jumping into the top four picks overall. That means that the Lakers can use this pick for a potential AD (Anthony Davis) blockbuster trade, or they could draft a really solid rookie LeBron can mentor. Who knows?

The #1 overall pick went to the New Orleans Pelicans (ironically), followed by the Memphis Grizzlies receiving the #2 overall pick respectively. There will be lots of buzz in New Orleans around whether the Pelicans can still convince AD to stay with the idea of teaming up with Zion Williamson in the fall. We will see, as the NBA drama just got even more spicy.