In conjunction with the first two days of the 2020 NFL draft, Pelicans.com is featuring draft-related articles. The NBA’s 2020 draft was originally scheduled for June 25; the date is now to be determined.
As frustrating and forgettable as the 2018-19 season was for New Orleans, in hindsight the misery inadvertently generated multiple long-term benefits that could pay off for years to come. First, after making a trip to the second round of the playoffs in ’18, no one expected the Pelicans to miss the postseason in ’19, let alone have a realistic shot at prized No. 1 pick Zion Williamson, but that’s exactly what happened. A disappointing 33-49 record yielded New Orleans “so you’re saying there’s a chance” lottery odds of just 6 percent, yet the ping-pong balls bounced fortuitously, causing Alvin Gentry to erupt in a back room in Chicago. A month later, the blockbuster Anthony Davis trade with the Los Angeles Lakers yielded a second lottery pick, which the Pelicans converted into center Jaxson Hayes. Just like that, New Orleans had added a pair of promising 19-year-old bigs (Williamson was actually still only 18 on draft night).
It probably wasn’t by design, but last summer proved to be rather bountiful for New Orleans in terms of adding players with noteworthy draft pedigrees. After a multi-year stretch during which the Pelicans frequently traded out of the first round, New Orleans managed to acquire four other players who’d been selected during previous NBA lotteries. The deal with the Lakers brought Brandon Ingram (No. 2 pick in ’16) and Lonzo Ball (No. 2 pick in ’17); Derrick Favors (No. 3 pick in ’10) and JJ Redick (No. 11 pick in ’06) were added via trade and free agency, respectively.
Add it up, and the Pelicans currently have seven players on their roster who were chosen during the draft lottery (since Charlotte rejoined the NBA in ’04, that’s been defined as any player among the first 14 picks). Somewhat surprisingly, that’s actually not the most in the league, because there are three teams with eight former lottery picks on their rosters – Chicago, Houston and Orlando. Based on current rosters, here are the teams with the most and least lottery picks:
MOST
Chicago Bulls (8)
Th.Young (No. 12 pick in 2007), O.Porter (3 in 2013), LaVine (13 in 2014), Dunn (5 in 2016), Valentine (14 in 2016), Markkanen (7 in 2017), W.Carter (7 in 2018), C.White (7 in 2019)
Houston Rockets (8)
T.Chandler (2 in 2001), Sefolosha (13 in 2006), J.Green (5 in 2007), Westbrook (4 in 2008), E.Gordon (7 in 2008), Harden (3 in 2009), Rivers (10 in 2012), McLemore (7 in 2013)
Orlando Magic (8)
Augustin (9 in 2008), Aminu (8 in 2010), Ross (8 in 2012), Carter-Williams (11 in 2013), A.Gordon (4 in 2014), Fultz (1 in 2017), Isaac (6 in 2017), Bamba (6 in 2018)
Boston Celtics (7)
Hayward (9 in 2010), Kanter (3 in 2011), K.Walker (9 in 2011), Smart (6 in 2014), J.Brown (3 in 2016), Tatum (3 in 2017), Langford (14 in 2019)
New Orleans Pelicans (7)
Redick (11 in 2006), Favors (3 in 2010), Okafor (3 in 2015), Ingram (2 in 2016), Ball (2 in 2017), Williamson (1 in 2019), Hayes (8 in 2019)
Phoenix Suns (7)
Rubio (5 in 2009), Saric (12 in 2014), Kaminsky (9 in 2015), Booker (13 in 2015), Ayton (1 in 2018), Mik.Bridges (10 in 2018), C.Johnson (11 in 2019)
LEAST
Toronto Raptors (1)
S.Johnson (8 in 2015)
Milwaukee Bucks (2)
M.Williams (2 in 2005), B.Lopez (10 in 2008)
Brooklyn Nets (3)
Durant (2 in 2007), Irving (1 in 2011), Prince (12 in 2016)
Denver Nuggets (3)
Vonleh (9 in 2014), Murray (7 in 2016), M.Porter (14 in 2018)
Of course, a quick glance at the ’19-20 standings shows that accumulating numerous lottery picks isn’t exactly a recipe for short-term success. In fact, the defending NBA champions (Toronto) and the squad with the best record this season (Milwaukee) only sport three combined lotto choices, including none they drafted themselves. Along similar lines, when the regular season was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic, at the top of the list of goals for New Orleans (3.5 games behind eighth-place Memphis) was to qualify for the 2020 playoffs – which means skipping the draft lottery and avoiding adding another top-14 pick.