Any NBA team picking in the lottery is hoping to pick a star player.
Hope springs eternal. At the same time, it isn’t always vindicated. Some lottery picks don’t make good on the promise they showed before entering the league.
On the other hand, we can’t always blame the players, either. A lottery pick who lands in a suboptimal situation may not thrive – to no fault of his own.
For example, look at Obi Toppin of the New York Knicks. He was a lottery pick, but he’s spent his whole career buried behind Julius Randle on the team’s depth chart.
Soon enough, the team will have to decide if he’s part of their future.
Could they flip him for Seth Curry of the Brooklyn Nets?
