At this point, the San Antonio Spurs are no strangers to the NBA Draft Lottery and how it works. For the sixth year in a row, the Spurs are focused on ping-pong balls, and for the second year in a row, they will have two picks in the top 14.
Last year, the Spurs picked Stephon Castle with the fourth overall pick and then traded eighth overall pick Rob Dillingham to the Minnesota Timberwolves for future assets. Dillingham rarely played and looked unreliable when he did, so the trade has aged rather well.
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This season, the Spurs own their own pick and one from the Atlanta Hawks as a result of the Dejounte Murray trade. San Antonio has distant odds to land the top pick, but fans should expect the Spurs to select in the middle of the draft lottery.
Cooper Flagg, Stephon CastleBy Tony Fisher
As things stand, the Spurs have the eighth-best odds to land the top pick, and the Hawks have the 14th-best odds. If all goes as planned, the Spurs will pick eighth and 14th, which in a deep draft class means there will be ample talent to select.
However, the Hawks had only a three percent chance to land the top pick last year, and they did, selecting Zaccharie Risacher. This year, the Spurs have a six percent chance of getting the top pick, and the Hawks have a distant 0.7 percent chance of getting the top pick.
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The Spurs have a 26.2 percent chance of moving into the top five, which would almost certainly land them an NBA-ready starter.
The draft is full of talent, which can’t be stressed enough, but top-five picks Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, VJ Edgecombe, Ace Bailey, and Tre Johnson are all high-end prospects. Players like Asa Newell, Derik Queen, Kon Knueppel, and Jase Richardson would all fit in well with the Spurs, but there’s less of a guarantee that they would live up to the hype.
The draft lottery will be held on Monday, May 12, and coverage will be broadcast on ESPN, with instant reactions available at Inside the Spurs.
Check out the Inside the Spurs home page for more news, analysis, and must-read articles.
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