One-on-One: NBA Draft lottery winner (duh!), losers, 'Brow' sweepstakes

Keane: Obviously the Pelicans were the big winners Tuesday, so who was the biggest draft lottery loser?

Heery:  Obviously, the Bulls (picking seventh), Suns (No. 6) and Cavs (No. 5) had extremely rough nights. The Hawks (No. 8) and Wizards (No. 9) also dropped three spots each. However, the biggest loser of lottery night were the people who don’t understand math and the effect of flattening the lottery odds. Next biggest losers were Seattle fans who were hoping that the Pelicans and Grizzlies would be so hopeless these next few years that they’d get moved out West.

Conversely, the way this lottery played out couldn’t have worked out better for the NBA’s crusade against tanking as teams with the 11th, eighth and seventh odds all ended up in the top four, joining only the Knicks out of the teams with the best odds at the top pick. The lesson here: Don’t tank til there’s 10 games left, people.

Speaking of the Knicks, do they have enough assets and draft capital to make a legitimate offer for Anthony Davis (assuming the Pelicans still trade him) with the No. 3 pick, two future Mavs’ first-rounders and Kevin Knox? My post-draft power rankings of best AD trade package goes: 

1. Clippers (Lou Will, Montrezl Harrell, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Landry Shamet and Miami’s unprotected 2021 pick.)

2. Lakers (The four kids -- Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart -- plus the No. 4 pick.)

3. Celtics (Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, and the Memphis first-rounder (top-six protected in 2020, then unprotected in 2021.)

 4. Knicks (above). 

What about you?

Keane:  I love that Clippers package, especially considering that they have two max slots for free agents this summer. I would just hate to see the Clips break up the extremely entertaining team they put together last season, though adding AD to your team is probably excitement enough.

I also don’t love the Lakers package, despite the alluring No. 4 pick. It would simply mean the Pelicans would be adding Zion and the core of a 35-win Lakers team from 2017-18. 

I’d take the Knicks package and all the first-rounders I could get with the least protection they’d agree to, because the upside is so high. Even with Anthony Davis and whoever they can lure to the Big Apple, would it surprise you if the Knicks were still terrible? Toss in the chance of a Kristaps Porzingis disaster in Dallas and you could have a steady flow of high picks to support Zion’s development in New Orleans,

However, my pick for the team that most improved its chances to have AD in 2019-20 is the New Orleans Pelicans. Maybe The Brow burned his bridges in New Orleans, but adding Zion and a competent general manager like David Griffin presents a much rosier picture in the Big Easy. I just hope they figure it out relatively soon, so we can focus on more important things, like who is going to trade for Mike Conley.

Keane:  The draft lottery was an especially big deal this year because of Zion, but I always love it, mainly because it’s so eccentric. The NBA is a huge international sensation with franchises worth billions of dollars, yet it determines the fate of its most talented young players by drawing ping pong balls. That’s the way you choose bingo numbers or give away free goldfish at a school carnival.

I also find the timing delightful. The same night the NBA’s four best teams start facing off, we get to spend time with the 14 worst teams. Plus they’ve all chosen special representatives -- former players, owners’ children, anxious GMs worried about their jobs -- to watch the reveal, wishfully carrying lucky charms and talismans, hoping for franchise-changing news. It all feels like a throwback to the NBA’s weirder, jankier past rather than the streamlined product it has become.

What do you like about the draft lottery? Or are you one of those mavericks who wants to make every eligible player a free agent, or replace the lottery with a rotating multi-year wheel?

Pat Heery:  Although I’ve advocated for a free-market rookie free agency in the NFL in the past, I must admit, I eff-ing love the NBA Draft, and by extension, lottery night. Think of all the shady sliding doors moments to come from this bizarre night -- the Patrick Ewing frozen envelope in ‘85, Cleveland winning the LeBron sweepstakes, New Orleans winning the AD sweepstakes after trading CP3, Cleveland winning the lottery three out of four years after LeBron left. I am stunned the Knicks didn't win the Zion sweepstakes, though.

There’s a saying in the NBA that your franchise needs to sell one of two things: winning or hope.  Lottery night is all about the latter. Yet, rarely does that hope translate to actual winning down the road, unless your team lands the No. 1 pick. This year appears to be no different as Zion Williamson will, in my opinion, elevate the Pelicans to playoff contention with All-NBA-level play from the jump  -- yeah, he’s that good. On the other hand, you could tell me every other prospect besides RJ Barrett could be a bust and I would believe you.

Keane: Give me one change you’d love to see the NBA make to the whole draft and lottery system.

Heery: I’d like to see the NBA flip-flop the Draft and free agency (described in greater detail in this Zach Lowe piece from last summer.)