Sixers Draft Pick Tracker – March 8th, 2015

Overview:

Sixers Draft Pick Tracker

2015 Top-of-Draft Standings

Sixers pick (currently 2nd):

• Sixers won (bad): An incredible Sixers win, and another that I couldn’t in a million years complain about. The win has a chance to hurt the Sixers draft positioning, but I’m okay with sprinkling an incredible team effort in here every now and then.
• New York lost (bad): The Knicks looked like they had a very real chance of stealing a game last night, but the Pacers outscored them by 9 in the 4th quarter for a 6 point win. With the Sixers win and Knicks loss, the Sixers have 2 more wins than the Knicks.
• Minnesota won (good): Minnesota with a surprising win over Portland. They remain tied with the Sixers at 14 wins, but the Sixers have two losses in hand.

Lakers pick (top 5 protected, currently 4th)

• Sacramento lost (good): Sacramento lost to the Heat, which keeps them 5 wins behind the Lakers in the 6th slot.
• Denver lost (good): Denver fell to the Houston Rockets. They’re an incredible long shot, but are in the 7th slot with 6 more wins than the Lakers.

Heat pick (top 10 protected, currently 15th):

• Heat won (good?): I’m putting this OT win over the Kings down as a positive because I’m starting to get really, really concerned about the Heat falling into the top 10. They played last night without Luol Deng, Chris Bosh, Goran Dragic, and Hassan Whiteside. Would really like some separation to develop between 9 and 16.
• Indiana won (good): Indy won their 5th in a row and are now tied with Miami at 28-34. The two teams are going in opposite directions, so I’m counting on Indy to finish out the season better than the Heat.

Oklahoma City Thunder pick (top 18 protected, currently 18th):

• Washington lost (good): Washington lost to Milwaukee. The Bucks win does pull them within a game of OKC, but I’m confident in OKC finishing out the season with a better record. The Washington loss pulls OKC to within a half game of the Wizards, who are 2-8 in their last 10 games and continue their freefall.

Tonight’s games:

• Chicago @ San Antonio: Chicago is 4.5 games up on OKC, and is kind of a desperation backup plan to the Thunder catching the Wizards. In a week or two this could become irrelevant.
• Charlotte @ Detroit: Charlotte, who has won 4 in a row, is 12th at 27-33, a win behind Miami. I’m expecting Charlotte to pass Miami eventually, which could be a good thing, as long as 2 of Utah, Boston, and Brooklyn (all 3 wins behind Miami) don’t.
• Utah @ Brooklyn: I think Utah has a better chance of catching Miami than Brooklyn does. What does this meaning, rooting wise? I’m not really sure. If you think Boston will falter and not pass Miami, then hope Utah wins. If you think Boston will also pass Miami, then hope Brooklyn wins, thus lessening the chance that the surging Jazz pass Miami. Hold me.
• Boston @ Orlando: Another tough one. The Lakers are unlikely to make up 4 games on the Magic with only 21 games to play. A Boston loss, which could push them further away from passing Miami, has a higher chance of being a positive for the Sixers when the season is over. But the impact of a Magic loss could be greater if the 2% chance that the Lakers pass Orlando AND get some bad luck on lottery night to fall down to 6 happens.
• Toronto @ OKC: An OKC win puts them in a tie for the 19th pick.
• Dallas @ Lakers: Lakers wins. Always cheer for Lakers wins.

Lottery Odds - Heat Pick

Lottery Odds - Lakers Pick