2022 NBA Draft Lottery Biggest Winners
Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings are the most obvious winners of this year’s draft lottery. They entered the night with just the seventh-best odds and a 32 percent chance at a top-four pick. They left the lottery with the fourth-overall selection in tow.
Perhaps the basketball gods are rewarding the long-suffering Kings fanbase for their loyalty, or they’re blessing Sacramento for defying logic and trying to make the playoffs despite a lackluster roster.
Sometimes it pays to be bold. After trading Tyrese Haliburton away for Domantas Sabonis, the Kings clearly planned to win as soon as possible. That didn’t work out for them immediately after the trade, but they now have a top-four selection to add to their new core.
Orlando Magic
Unlike the Sacramento Kings, the Orlando Magic weren’t expecting to be a competitive team this past season. They haven’t expected to be a competitive team in a while. For a few years, they were a cannon-fodder, end-of-the-playoffs squad. Since committing to rebuilding and chasing ping pong balls, Orlando hadn’t had much luck when it came to the lottery.
LATEST NBA NEWS & DRAFT RUMORS: 2022 NBA Mock Draft: Early Look At Full First-Round Projections
In 2021, they had a bottom-three record but walked away with just the fifth-overall pick, just missing out on the chance to draft Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, Jalen Green, and Scottie Barnes.
Karmic retribution has made its way to Central Florida and reinvigorated a franchise that hasn’t had a number one pick since 2004. The Magic made good on that selection by taking Dwight Howard. It’ll be interesting to see who they deem the best fit to lead their misfit group of young players.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
After spending three of the first four years of his career in Sam Presti’s Moneyball-Esque, “ode to Sam Hinkie” process, hopefully, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s days of playing next to a purposefully depleted roster are over.
With the second-overall pick in hand, the Thunder have the opportunity to pair another franchise cornerstone with SGA and a collection of impressive young players like Josh Giddey, Luguentz Dort, and Kenrich Williams.
LATEST NBA NEWS & DRAFT RUMORS: 2022 NBA Mock Draft: Early Look At Full First-Round Projections
With three first-round picks in the 2023 NBA Draft, Sam Presti will hopefully decide that it’s worth it to field out a competitive team and have his soldiers earn some real battle scars.
