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<\/p>\nNot long after the Brooklyn Nets lost once again Friday night, this time by 40 ignominious points to the red-hot Atlanta Hawks at Barclays, word arrived from the west coast that the Sacramento Kings had won their game with the New Orleans Pelicans in a tight one that came down to the final seconds!! Huzzah!!<\/p>\n
It was big news in Brooklyn and here\u2019s why from Tankathon\u2026<\/p>\n
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The Nets who reportedly had set a goal of getting a top three pick \u2014 with a 52.1% chance at at top four pick and a 14.0% chance at the overall No. 1 \u2014 are close to achieving it. Although nothing is mathematically certain, for the Nets to drop into fourth and lesser odds would require them to win three of their last five and have both the Wizards and Pacers lose out. While the latter may be likely, it\u2019s hard to imagine the Nets, winners of five games in the last two-plus months, will add another three to the win column before closing time, no matter the competition.<\/p>\n
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The focus on the top three was based on the assessment that the three top picks in the NBA Draft \u2014 Cam Boozer, Darryn Peterson and A.J. Dybanta \u2014 were all \u201cfranchise changers,\u201d the equivalent of having three Cooper Flaggs in one draft! That\u2019s changed a bit with Peterson\u2019s maturity being a question and other prospects like Caleb Wilson and Darius Acuff rising in draftnik analyses.<\/p>\n
Getting the first overall pick will be tough with the Nets playing four games vs. three other tanking teams \u2014 the Wizards on Sunday, the Bucks two days later, Pacers next Thursday and a return trip to Milwaukee the next night \u2014 before finishing off with the Raptors on April 12. Still, Brooklyn has a shot. They are arguably the worst team in the NBA right now and have gotten worse of late.<\/p>\n
There are other variables of course even if the Nets finish last in the standings. They\u2019ll have to deal with a history that is not favorable. Playing the probabilities is one thing, good fortune with the aerodynamics of small plastic balls is quite another.<\/p>\n
The last three teams to go into the lottery with the worst record in regular season and the best odds came out of it with the fifth pick. Indeed, there\u2019s a 47.9% of that. Moreover, no team with the worst record has won the overall No. 1 since the NBA instituted its new draft rules in 2019. And the last two lotteries were won by the Mavericks and Hawks who had 1.8% chances at the top spot. Of course, falling a bit in a generational as well as deep draft is better than winning the overall No. 1 in a bad draft.<\/p>\n
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