The NBA draft lottery took place last week where all of the NBA teams were looking to see their fate heading into the 2019 draft on June 20th. Many people are aware of the luck that surrounds the lottery and anything can truly happen. Reaffirming the previous statement, the New Orleans Pelicans claimed the number one overall pick. The Pelicans had just a six percent chance of earning that pick selection, but they still beat the odds. The Pelicans are now in the driver seat with acquiring the top prospect, rising sophomore Zion Williamson from Duke University. Most teams that knew they weren't making the playoffs tried to tank this year in order to pursue the college basketball icon who transcended the definition of athleticism and posed himself as someone who is ready to bring his talents to the professional stage.
As for the remaining top five picks, the Memphis Grizzlies got the number two overall pick, the New York Knicks ended up with the number three overall pick, the Los Angeles Lakers received number four, and finally the Cleveland Cavaliers stopped at number five. Most of the teams with the highest percentage of claiming the no. 1 overall pick did not even make it in the top five, which is rare. An example of this is the Phoenix Suns who had one of the worst records in the NBA this past season with a record of 19-63. The Suns were unfortunate to receive the no. 6 pick, which was highly unexpected and certainly disappointing for a team looking to surround their star player Devin Booker with some young talent.
The teams that got the most out of this year's lottery were the New Orleans Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers, and the Atlanta Hawks. The Atlanta Hawks got the better end of the deal this year as they have secured two spots in the first 10 draft picks of the 2019 NBA Draft. There is a lot of talent in this draft class so this is a make or break draft for a lot of these struggling teams looking to bring themselves out of their ruts. Prospects like RJ Barrett, Ja Morant, Jarrett Culver, and Cam Reddish demonstrated tremendous promise during the college basketball season and have many professional scouts eager to have them join their respective teams. As for the projected number one overall pick, Zion Williamson, he has been compared to NBA greats such as Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley for his raw athleticism and ability to create scoring plays.
During an interview with Bill Simmons on his podcast show, NBA star Kevin Durant said that Zion is a once-in-a-generation athlete. The 2019 NBA draft should be quite interesting to see where these top prospects end up playing for. One thing is for almost certain in that the New Orleans Pelicans are going to end up with Zion Williamson with the number one overall pick in this year's draft. With that being said the Pelicans could have quite a bright future with this future star and hopefully the rookie can help keep NBA star Anthony Davis in New Orleans. Anything can happen though during the NBA draft and we will just have to wait and see what unfolds.
