New Orleans Pelicans: Pels’ lottery odds and draft simulation
The New Orleans Pelicans are now just 12-17 after their most recent loss to the Phoenix Suns, so it’s not too early to start looking at the lottery odds.
The Pelicans had playoff aspirations coming into the season, and at times they have looked the part, winning four in a row recently before falling back to Earth.
Barring a huge run, the Pelicans’ inconsistency will likely keep them out of the playoffs, which isn’t the worst thing considering they need an injection of talent that they might be able to get with another lottery pick in the draft.
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Last year’s pick, Kira Lewis Jr. has been up and down, though he has shown a lot of positive signs that he could be the point guard of the future.
The rest of the David Griffin’s draft picks? Well, outside of Zion Williamson they’ve all been pretty much terrible, so some Pels’ fans might not be excited about watching their team suffer another losing season for a long shot at a good player.
The New Orleans Pelicans aren’t tanking, but they don’t have to, as they are losing games the old fashioned way, by not playing defense. Here is where they currently stand.
New Orleans Pelicans: What are the Pelicans lottery odds?
The New Orleans Pelicans are currently tied with Atlanta and Miami for the 8th-worst record in the NBA, which would give them a 4.5 percent chance at the number one pick and a 20.3 percent chance of jumping into the top-four.
These aren’t bad odds for a team that has a lot more talent than most of the others in the lottery and could make a huge leap with the right offseason moves.
Just for fun, I ran the lottery simulator five times to see where the Pelicans ended up and the results were pretty interesting.
In m five spins, the Pelicans got the 10th, 1st, 8th, 10th and 2nd pick overall. The New Orleans Pelicans already bucked the odds once in the lottery that got them Zion Williamson, could they do it again for Cade Cunningham or one of the other future stars from this draft?
If the New Orleans Pelicans could luck out and get a top-four pick in this draft, then this emotional roller coaster of a season will have been worth it.
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