Winners and losers of the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery

Winner: New Orleans Pelicans

I mean, duh. What better way to replace a departing franchise player than landing the inside track to draft another one?

Even if the arrival of Zion Williamson doesn’t convince Anthony Davis to stick around (which appears to be the case, according to The Athletic‘s Shams Charania), the New Orleans Pelicans have a plethora of options they can pursue.

David Griffin has said he wanted to have a conversation with AD about the franchise’s future plans, and with Zion on board, that’s one wicked frontcourt that could dominate for the next 10 years if the Brow buys in. Following that hopeful train of thought, they could play out the 2019-20 campaign with a core of Davis, Zion and Jrue Holiday, plugging in holes as they go and hoping the No. 1 pick is as NBA-ready as advertised to turn NOLA back into a 50-win team on the rise.

If the season went south, they could trade Davis at the deadline for a slightly lesser package. If that path is too risky, they could also trade him this summer, and two of the Brow’s top suitors — the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks — now have top-four draft picks to offer.

It’s not unrealistic the Pelicans exit the 2019 NBA Draft with two top-four selections, and at that point, they could either hold onto Jrue Holiday as a positive mentor and borderline All-NBA talent to ensure the youngsters aren’t developing bad habits, or they could move him — while he’s still in his prime and has immense trade value — for more young talent and future picks.

Although it still looks like the Pelicans will have to trade Anthony Davis at some point in the near future, winning the NBA Draft Lottery with just six percent odds is an incredible score for the franchise — not just because of Zion, but also because of how much it will bolster the imminent trade offers from the Knicks, Lakers and Boston Celtics.

Loser: Phoenix Suns

Overlooked in all the rises and falls in the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery — as per usual — are the Phoenix Suns. They entered Tuesday night with a 14 percent chance of securing one of the nicest young Big 3s in the NBA, and exited the evening by plummeting all the way to No. 6.

The Suns had a 26 percent chance of dropping to sixth — their highest odds for any individual pick — but it doesn’t take away the sting of missing out on adding Zion Williamson (or even Ja Morant in the No. 2 spot) to a young core of Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges.

No one will feel sorry for the Suns. They’ve been a running joke for almost a decade, their owner is as reviled as any in the NBA, they just won the No. 1 overall pick last year and they may have messed that up by passing on Luka Doncic. Perpetual incompetence rarely breeds sympathy in the draft lottery conversation, even if this year’s “tanking” was entirely unintentional.

However, with the Memphis Grizzlies moving into the No. 2 spot and the Pelicans winning the lottery, two of Phoenix’s prime trade targets — Mike Conley and Jrue Holiday — may have just been dusted.

New Orleans would only move on from Holiday after an Anthony Davis trade, and that’s only if they’re game for a full-scale rebuild through youth. Memphis should eventually trade Conley, especially with Morant likely to become their new point, but it’d also make sense to keep one of the greatest players in franchise history to mentor their incoming floor general of the future.

Not only did the Suns miss out on Zion and Morant, but they also fell to No. 6, further weakening their potential trade packages for two teams that moved into the top four and, therefore, may have less incentive to deal their borderline All-Star guards. That’s a pretty tough outcome no matter how you slice it. Their best option now might be injecting themselves in a Lakers’ deal for Anthony Davis where they give up pick No. 6 in a three-team swap to land Lonzo Ball.