The 2019 NBA Draft Lottery Is Just the Beginning
Let me start by saying THANK GOD CLEVELAND DIDN’T WIN THE ZION SWEEPSTAKES.
Would there have been anything worse than watching the first 7 years of LeBron’s career over again? (Two words: Ira Newble.)
New Orleans is not much better, I grant you that. She doesn’t bare Dan Gilberts toxic level of hubris, but Gayle Benson is almost certainly more familiar with the home address of the official who didn’t throw the “Pass Interference” flag in the NFC Championship game than she is with Zion Williamson. And that makes for a rough road ahead for this year’s version of the monobrow’d fellow who’s currently playing for the Pelicans — unless, of course, that guy stays, then this could be really fun.
With the Lakers, Pelicans and Grizzlies all jumping up in the draft, the lottery was the first day of uncertainty, confusion, and chaos in a line of many more to come. New reports surface seemingly by the minute, but do we truly know where the flighty Kevin Durant will setup shop? And who can predict the next perch for the NBA’s pre-eminent philosopher, Kyrie Irving? Where will Uncle Dennis choose to plug-in his probably-a-robot nephew, Kawhi Leonard? Will Philly keep everyone… or anyone? Who’s going to give up on big names and throw $200 million at Kemba Walker first, the Knicks or the Lakers? And then there’s the aforementioned Anthony Davis…
What’s next for him? That pick the Lakers, Knicks, and other’s hoped they’d get to potentially trade to the Pelicans for Anthony Davis? Well, they already have it, and that may change everything for the big name teams who’ve been tied to AD all along. (And for those who want to be upset about or laugh at the Knicks… I mean, this is math. The Knicks were “most” likely to get the 5th pick, they had the best chance at the first, and they ended up with the 3rd. It is what it is so let it go, Stephen A.)
Stoking the rumor mill flames even more, Shams said tonight that AD still wants out, but what’s the price now, and who fits the bill? There’s been talk of a “surprise team” that would make a run at AD, and now that scenario seems more likely than ever, given that the Pels could now shift their focus to building a competitive core around Zion with pieces we potentially haven’t heard of yet. And what if New Orleans decides Zion is the perfect piece to bring in a legitimate number two star next to AD in an effort to convince him to stay?
And what makes things more uncertain is that this potential trade has no timetable. It could be during the draft, or it could be in February, and it will be looming large over all of free agency as well. What is certain now is that New Orleans have something they didn’t possess to this point: options.
On a night when narratives are as boring and definite as can be on the court, they are impossibly engaging and incalculable off of it. We can argue about whether that’s a good thing for the remainder of the playoffs and the NBA’s on-court product, but what’s undebatable is that the 2019 Post-Postseason will be one of the most exciting and memorable in NBA history.
Woj SZN is upon us.
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