NBA: 3 winners and loser from the 2020 draft lottery

3 winners and losers from the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery

Draft Lottery night in the NBA is a special night. Fanbases have watched their teams be awful all year long and this is the first glimpse of hope towards the future. Dreams are realized and hopes are shattered as the draft order is revealed to the world.

Here are my winners and losers of the 2020 Draft lottery:

Winners

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Minnesota Timberwolves

No one is more ecstatic about how the lottery played out than the Minnesota Timberwolves. Coming into that night with the third-best odds and leaving with the No. 1 pick would have any fan jumping with joy.

Hopes are higher than ever with the T’Wolves as they get the No. 1 pick and D’Angelo Russell in the same season. Minnesota has a lot of options with the first pick of the draft. They could pair either Anthony Edwards or LaMelo Ball with Russell to make a formidable backcourt or pair James Wiseman with Karl Anthony-Towns to create a dominant frontcourt.

Also, could the Timberwolves bring the trio of best friends together and make a play for Devin Booker this offseason? I’m looking forward to what the Timberwolves do.

Charlotte Hornets

Michael Jordan’s Charlotte Hornets had the biggest leap of the draft lottery. They showed up with the 8th best odds and landed at No. 3. This is their highest pick since the Hornets were the Bobcats and selected Michael Kidd-Gilchrist with the second pick back in 2012.

James Wiseman would likely be at the top of their wishlist to pair with guards Devonte’ Graham and Terry Rozier. The Hornets had luck in their favor and now get to add a top prospect to a team in dire need of top-level talent.

Chicago Bulls

What a week for the Chicago Bulls. They fired Jim Boylen who went 39-84 as head coach and ended up with the No. 4 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Hope should be higher in the Windy City than it has been in a very long time. The Bulls posses one of the best young nuclei in the NBA that features Lauri Markkanen, Wendell Carter Jr., and Coby White.

The fourth pick gives flexibility to the Bulls who could take one of the top prospects here or even package it with Zach LaVine and make a move for a top player.

Losers

New York Knicks

The nightmare continues if you’re a New York Knicks fan. It almost seems certain like death and taxes that New York will fall in the draft. The Knicks entered the night with the sixth-best odds to land a top 3 pick. The time came for the 8th pick to be announced and yet again the ping pong balls didn’t favor the Knicks.

It will be interesting how the new management and coaching staff move forward with this pick. The Knicks have glaring holes all over the roster. I think finding the most consistent player at No. 8 would help them out a lot.

Atlanta Hawks

Trae Young and Co. didn’t have the luck they were looking to have on Lottery night. Entering in with the fourth-best odds, the Atlanta Hawks saw themselves drop out of the top 5 ending up with pick 6. The draft is considered to drop off after the 5th pick so it will be interesting to see what this Hawks squad does with the pick.

The team is in dire need of a solid veteran player to help lead this group to its first playoff appearance since 2017. They could also add to their very young roster another lottery talent that could grow with the core.

Detroit Pistons

Lottery night was a sad night for Detroit Pistons fans. They saw themselves drop from having the fifth-best odds to ending up with the seventh pick. First-year general manager Troy Weaver is going to have his hands full with this roster this offseason which some people have dubbed it the worst in the NBA heading into next year.

Next. The Phoenix Suns are going to be a problem. dark

Blake Griffin is still injury prone and on his mega-deal with two years still remaining. Christian Wood is an unrestricted free agent this offseason and that feels like a must-do if you’re the Pistons after the season he had. The Pistons could be in the top 3 with the most cap space available depending on some moves and it will be interesting how they use that number 7 pick heading forward.