Following up on last night’s NBA action and how that impacts the Sixers upcoming draft picks:
Sixers pick (currently slotted 2nd):
- Sixers lost to Miami (good): I’m putting this one in the good category, because the value of the Sixers likely top-5 pick is more important than Heat’s pick. Even beyond that, the Heat putting some distance between themselves and Charlotte (10th slot, now 1.5 games up of Miami in the lottery standings) isn’t the worst thing in the world. The loss pulls the Sixers to within 1.5 games of the Knicks for the worst record in the league, and puts them 2.5 up on the Lakers (4th) and 5.5 up on the Magic (5th). Not a whole lot happened in terms of the teams around the Sixers, however, as New York, Minnesota, Lakers, and Orlando were all inactive.
Lakers pick (top 5 protected. Currently slotted 4th):
- Nothing really to report here, outside of the Sixers win. NYK, Min, LAL, and Orlando were all inactive.
Heat’s pick (top 10 protected. Currently 16th):
- Heat won (bad / kinda): The Heat won, which could be either good or bad, depending on your viewpoint. The Heat can have 3 out of Charlotte, Detroit, Indy, and Brooklyn pass them. All 4 passing them and the odds are the Heat keep their pick. 3 out of 4 pass them and the Sixers have very good odds of ending up with the 11th pick. Charlotte, Detroit, and Indy are now in a virtual tie at 22-32, 23-33, and 23-33, respectively, putting them all 1.5 games up on Miami.
- Brooklyn beat Denver (bad / kinda): Brooklyn beat the Nuggets 110-82, with newcomer Thad Young scoring 15. This is good in that 3 out of 4 of the aforementioned teams need to pass Miami, but bad in that I think Brooklyn is one of the teams more likely (along with Charlotte) to falter. The Denver loss pulls the Nuggets to within 5.5 games of the Lakers. The Nuggets are bad, but so are the Lakers, and that’s a ton of ground to make up in 26 games.
Thunder’s pick (top 18 protected. Currently 18th):
- Milwaukee lost (good): Milwaukee’s 87-71 loss to Chicago, their 2nd straight defeat, puts them in a tie with Oklahoma City, bumping OKC to the 18th slot, the last slot where they would keep their pick. All that’s left would be OKC passing Washington (2 games between the two) in order for the Thunder to convey the pick to the Sixers. In theory, you would prefer the Bulls to lose, as they’re currently slotted 22nd and are in theory a team that the Thunder could pass for that 19th spot, but with Milwaukee also being a team that OKC has to pass, it’s more important for Milwaukee to lose than for Chicago to do so.
- San Antonio lost (good): If the Sixers get the OKC pick, the odds point to OKC passing Washington for the 19th slot. However, after the Spurs surprising 90-81 loss to the Jazz, the Thunder are only 3 games behind the Spurs.
- Los Angeles Clips lost (good): Again, a team the Thunder have an outside shot of passing, as the Clips are 37-20, 5.5 games up on OKC and in the 23rd slot. Extreme far shot, but any time one of those teams gets closer to OKC, it just increases the number of ways the end of the season can shake out with the Sixers getting the pick. That being said, the goal is for the Thunder to ultimately *just* pass one of Washington, San Antonio, Cleveland, Chicago, or LAC, not all of them. So eventually these “long shots” getting closer become a negative.
Tonight’s games:
- Golden State @ Washington: The Thunder are 2 games behind the Wizards for the 19th slot and conveying their pick to the Sixers.
- Pacers @ Thunder: ^– Same as above. An OKC win and a Wiz loss and the Thunder could be within a game of #19. That being said, the Pacers losing would push them further away from Miami for a conveyable lotto pick. This game is really a win-win.
- Cleveland @ Detroit: Impacts the Miami pick. At this point, I think you’re hoping for Detroit to win and pass Miami, pushing the Heat pick closer to the coveted #11 draft slot, although there’s obvious risk in doing so should all 4 of the EC teams between 10 and 15 pass the Heat.
