Race for Wembanyama: Where each team ranks halfway into the season
By Cal Durrett
The “So you’re saying there’s a chance” tier.
Atlanta Hawks-0.5%
Utah Jazz-1%
Phoenix Suns-1.5%
Portland Trail Blazers-2%
Oklahoma City-3%
New Orleans Pelicans (pick swap with the Los Angeles Lakers)-4.5%
Toronto Raptors-6.7%
Orlando Magic (via the Chicago Bulls)-6.8%
Washington Wizards-9%
While the teams in the previous tier currently have no shot at selecting Wembanyama, these eight teams do. As you can see, they have anywhere from a .08% chance up to a 9% chance. Odds are, none of these teams will select first come June, but considering most of these teams are decent already, perhaps that’s for the best.
Wembanyama is a franchise-changing player, and while a team like the Washington Wizards could use him to finally build a sustainable winner, the Pelicans will be just fine without him. Speaking of the Pelicans, with the aforementioned pick situation, they project to have the No. 9 pick.
Meanwhile, the Orlando Magic are in a similar situation. Thanks to the disastrous (for the Bulls) Nikola Vuceivic trade, they own the rights to the Bulls’ selection. That’s currently the seventh pick, giving them a 4.5% chance at Wembanyama in addition to their own selection (more on that later). While these teams currently have a slim chance of landing the first overall pick, there is still about half a season left to make up ground by losing.
The Hawks and Trail Blazers are both in free fall and have seen their draft positions jump compared to a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, the Lakers’ and Bulls’ picks have worsened as they’ve begun to play better. The point is that there will almost certainly be significant movement within the tier, with some dropping out and others rising.