With significant NBA Draft positioning on the line tonight in Sacramento, the New Orleans Pelicans would be wise to take a loss.
The New Orleans Pelicans currently have the best odds to select seventh in the 2019 NBA Draft this summer. With two games remaining in the season and no rational reason to try to win either contest, the Pelicans could benefit greatly long term by adding two more notches in the loss column by season’s end, starting tonight in Sacramento.
The race to the bottom in the NBA is a close one, and the Pelicans can still wind up drafting anywhere from sixth to ninth depending on how everything shakes out from here. The final game of New Orleans’ 2018-2019 campaign is against the Golden State Warriors, which will more than likely be a loss even if the Warriors are resting several guys for the playoffs.
That leaves tonight against the Kings as the only other game the Pelicans could be in “danger” of winning. If New Orleans drops these last two games, they can rise as high as sixth in the draft order as long as the team that currently holds that position, the Dallas Mavericks, can manage to win two of their three final games. Dallas has the sixth easiest remaining schedule, so if the Mavs happen to defeat Phoenix and Memphis, the Pelicans can swap draft positions with them if they lose out.
With how close all of these teams at the bottom are in terms of win percentage, winning one or both of their final two games could cause the Pelicans to allow both Washington and Memphis to climb above them in the projected draft order, causing New Orleans to slip back down to the likely ninth pick.
There’s a big difference between drafting sixth and ninth in this draft due to a dropoff in talent that happens right around this area on the draft board. For a New Orleans Pelicans team that desperately needs a new young talent to build around, drafting as high as possible is crucial. Intriguing prospects like Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver, Duke’s Cam Reddish, North Carolina’s Coby White, or Virginia’s De’Andre Hunter could all be options at Pick #6 that likely won’t be around for Pick #9.
It always feels a bit backwards to root for your team to lose, but that is exactly what the New Orleans Pelicans need to do tonight in Sacramento. It’s true that the NBA Draft Lottery ping pong balls could still benefit the Pelicans regardless of what happens in this game, but New Orleans can help make their own luck by accepting defeat to close out the season.