The biggest winners and losers of the NBA Draft Lottery

NBA Draft Losers: Detroit Pistons

Detroit has yet to have much pan out from their picks in recent memory. Their number-one pick in 2021, Cade Cunningham, has potential but missed most of last season with an injury. Their number seven pick the year prior, Kilian Hayes, has been disappointing thus far. Jaden Ivy did make the NBA second team this past year, and there is some promise there.

However, in this lottery, they dropped to fifth, even though they were tied for the highest odds to land the number one pick. Time will tell on Cunnigham and Ivy, but this was the worst possible situation for Detroit.

NBA Draft Losers: The Charlotte Hornets

This is the fourth time in franchise history the Hornets have landed the second overall pick. They were one pick away from Shaquille O’Neal (1992), Dwight Howard (2004), and Anthony Davis (2012). All Hall of Fame players, and if Wembanyama lives up to the hype, he’ll be the fourth star they’ve missed out on.

The Hornets have never won an NBA Championship and haven’t won a playoff series since 2003. It’s unfortunate, they’ve been so close yet so far from greatness; hopefully, whoever they decide to draft can turn the franchise around for the better.

NBA Draft Losers: New York Knicks

The Knicks had the best off-season signing with Jalen Brunson and gave Miami a run for their money in the second round of this year’s playoffs. Due to the Kristaps Porzingis trade, the Knicks had the Mavericks pick if it fell outside of the top ten.

Aside from the Mavericks blatantly tanking the last game and getting fined by the league, the ping pongs didn’t line in favor of New York. It would have been great to add a young piece to the rotation or have the pick as trade capital if they want to move on from RJ Barret. The Knicks currently do not have any picks in this year’s draft.