Winners and losers of the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery

Winner: Anthony Davis

It’s been a rough year for Anthony Davis. His team sucked after a strong start to the season and that first round upset in the 2018 NBA Playoffs. His public trade demands painted him as a villain, and then he lived up to that depiction with his desire to join another Klutch Sports client in Los Angeles, with his shortened minutes after the All-Star break and with his “That’s All, Folks!” shirt that he wore the final game of the season.

This summer was supposed to be a reprieve for his happiness, his basketball situation and his league-wide perception. The Pelicans winning the draft lottery should provide all of those things at some point over the next year, even if the team’s options are plentiful.

If New Orleans abides by his desire for a trade, he’ll be heading to a major market in L.A., New York or Boston. He’ll either join LeBron James, a Knicks team with the cap space to land Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, or a Celtics squad that would then stand a good chance of re-signing Kyrie. With the Knicks and Lakers securing top-four draft picks, there will be a compelling bidding war for his services once David Griffin opens up the line.

If New Orleans stays stubborn, AD will still get to play with Jrue Holiday and Zion Williamson in 2019-20, giving the Pelicans the core of a 50-win team. Will one year of Zion be enough to convince him to stay long-term? It feels unlikely. But even if he has to sweat out another year in the Big Easy, he’ll be playing for a more competitive team and he can go anywhere he wants in 2020. This was a win for AD no matter how it shakes out this summer.

Loser: Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics didn’t have a terrible lottery night in and of itself. The Sacramento Kings pick fell where it was expected to at No. 14. That top-eight protected Grizzlies pick didn’t convey, but it may be more valuable next year when the protection shrinks to top-six. They’ll still have three first-rounders in this year’s draft at Nos. 14, 20 and 22 as well.

However, there’s no denying the Celtics’ chances of trading for Anthony Davis this summer took a massive hit Tuesday night, for multiple reasons.

For starters, they don’t have another top-10 pick in this year’s draft to work with. That Grizzlies pick will be more valuable next year when it’s top-six protected, but the Los Angeles Clippers making the playoffs weakened the value of another extra pick, and the Kings’ pick wound up providing no help either.

Would selections at 14, 20 and 22 really seem attractive to the Pelicans when they just won the No. 1 pick and could field offers from the Knicks (No. 3 pick) and Lakers (No. 4 pick)? And after the season Boston just had, would AD even want to play there, especially with Kyrie Irving’s free agency completely up in the air?

The Celtics got zero help for their potential trade package in the lottery, while the Knicks’ and Lakers’ offers just got stronger. If the goal was to keep one of Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown, the last thing Danny Ainge wanted was a potential bidding war. That’s exactly what it’ll take to secure the Brow’s services now.