The biggest winners and losers of the NBA Draft Lottery

The French sensation Victor Wembanyama has been the talk of the NBA since the season started, which has led to the most anticipated draft lottery since the Cleveland Cavaliers struck gold in 2003 with Lebron James. Tuesday, May 16th, representatives from each team gathered in New York in their finest suits to see where the ping pongs landed. See below for the biggest winners and losers of the night.

NBA Draft Winners: San Antonio Spurs

No surprise here; the Spurs landed the number one pick, making them winners of the Wemby sweepstakes. This is very fitting for the organization, as they always land once-in-a-lifetime talent at the big man position. They drafted David Robinson with the number one pick in 1987 and then Tim Duncan with the number one pick in 1997.

The legendary Greg Poppivich sitting on five championships now has a new toy at his disposal, and the Spurs organization has resurrected itself. It’s hard to find a greater situation for a rookie than to be mentored by Poppivich, and it’ll be exciting to watch him develop under a great organization with a championship pedigree.

NBA Draft Winners: Orlando Magic

The Magic landed in the sixth spot in this year’s draft, but most importantly, they kept Chicago’s pick at 11. The picks were given to the Magic in the deal with the Chicago Bulls for Nikola Vucevic. The Bulls would have been able to retain their pick if it was top four.

This is exciting for the Magic after drafting Rookie of the Year Paolo Branchero, number one last year, and Franz Wagner, number eight (also the Bulls pick) the year prior. They finally have a future to build around and can hopefully add some young talent that pans out in this year’s draft.

NBA Draft Winners: Portland Trailblazers

There have been few victories for this organization of late, but they desperately needed this. Their Star, Damian Lillard, has voiced he doesn’t want to be a part of a rebuild, and the Blazers landing a top-three pick can hopefully add some talent that can benefit him.

It also serves as excellent trade value, the Blazers might be forced to make a major move, or they risk losing Lillard in a messy trade request. Whether they keep the pick or trade, it was crucial they were able to stay within the top three.

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.