Hoops Habit
Fansided

Milwaukee Bucks: Implications of the 2017 NBA Draft Lottery

By Josh Cornelissen

Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Thon Maker walks to the stage after being selected as the number ten overall pick to the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Thon Maker walks to the stage after being selected as the number ten overall pick to the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 5
Next
May 17, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas represents his team during the NBA draft lottery at New York Hilton Midtown. The Philadelphia 76ers received the first overall pick in the 2016 draft. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
May 17, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas represents his team during the NBA draft lottery at New York Hilton Midtown. The Philadelphia 76ers received the first overall pick in the 2016 draft. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

Boston’s lottery win could eliminate a rival

The Boston Celtics are playing the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals, a series that begins Wednesday in Beantown because the Celtics secured the No. 1 overall seed. While the Cavaliers are favored in the series, Boston has proved to be the second-best team in the Conference.

Now the second-best team in the East also holds the No. 1 overall pick in June’s draft. The result of a pick swap with the Brooklyn Nets, Boston will select first among a generous crop of promising talent.

It is certainly possible that Boston keeps the pick, choosing sustainability over short-term potential. In that case it seems like the Celtics will be a perennial Conference contender, with Jaylen Brown and Markelle Fultz (the likely top pick) carrying the torch after Isaiah Thomas and Al Horford pass it on.

In that scenario, teams staring at huge luxury tax bills in the face of a Boston dynasty of sorts may elect to zag the other way, letting marquee free agents walk rather than overpaying them to stay in not-as-good-as-Boston territory for the next five years. Both Atlanta with Paul Millsap and Toronto with Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka need to make such decisions.

There is also a greater possibility that Boston flips that pick for a star currently in their prime. Rather than waste the window of opportunity they have with Isaiah Thomas on a bargain deal and still in his prime, the Celtics could trade the pick for a star player on a team that recognizes it cannot contend.

Both the Indiana Pacers and Chicago Bulls have two-way wings that have been the subject of trade discussions. The Pacers and Paul George could part ways this offseason before George leaves in free agency during the summer of 2018. The Bulls may realize they cannot put together a winning team with Jimmy Butler and trade him for lucrative assets.

In either scenario, Boston trading for a star player would make the sending team immediately worse. Both Chicago and Indiana made the playoffs this year and were within a game of the Milwaukee Bucks; knocking one of those teams down into the lottery takes out a rival for the Bucks.

Home/Milwaukee Bucks