The New Orleans Pelicans can’t get a win against Sacramento lately.
The New Orleans Pelicans finished out of the playoffs, but were still hoping to get some luck.
Their NBA Draft Lottery position could have been improved had the Suns and Spurs made the playoffs instead of the Grizzlies and Trail Blazers.
But Memphis was able to slither in and eliminate the Spurs, while the Blazers took care of business and kept the Suns out even though they went undefeated in the bubble. Raise your hand if you would have rather seen the Suns in the play-in game?
The Pelicans could have moved to the tenth worst record in the league and improved their lottery odds, but were instead stuck in a tie with the Sacramento Kings, who beat the Pelicans twice to end the season.
The New Orleans Pelicans lost the tiebreaker to Sacramento.
Tiebreakers come down a random selection, so both the Pels and Kings had the same chances.
Sacramento won the tiebreaker, claiming the 12th worst record in the NBA, while the Pelicans are dropped to 13th overall.
This isn’t a huge deal, though it does give the Pelicans slightly less favorable odds of jumping into the top-four or lucking out and getting the number one pick as they did last year when they selected Zion Williamson.
The Kings will have a 6.2% chance to jump into the top-four, while the Pelicans will have a 5.7% chance. Neither will have much of a chance at the number one pick, as their odds are 1.3% and 1.2%, respectively.
Even though Phoenix, San Antonio and Sacramento all finished with better records than the New Orleans Pelicans, the records revert to the March 11 standings for all teams that didn’t make the playoffs.
This rule was probably put in place to stop the Wizards from tanking their way into the number one pick, but it definitely didn’t help the Pelicans.
The New Orleans Pelicans are hoping they can buck the odds again, jump into the top of the draft and get some impact talent.