NBA Draft Lottery: Pelicans’ odds and what to watch for
NBA Draft Lottery: 3 teams for the Pelicans to monitor
I wrote recently that the Southwest Division is the future of the NBA, as it is loaded with young talent, future MVPs and teams that are on the verge of being regular title contenders.
Other than the Pelicans, there are two teams from their division in the lottery, the Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs.
Houston is guaranteed to add a top-5 pick to a young core that already has Jalen Green, so Pels’ fans should hope their pick falls as far as possible.
Same for San Antonio, fellow play-in team, whose odds are slightly worse than the Pelicans’. The Pels should hope that the Spurs don’t get lucky and jump into the top-4, as it could shift the balance of power between the two teams.
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One team outside of the division to watch is the Portland Trail Blazers, who are two slots ahead of the Pelicans. Portland is not trying to rebuild around Damian Lillard, they are trying to reload, so it’s very possible they will try to trade their first-round pick for a player this offseason.
New Orleans might be thinking the same thing, as they have a few contracts they’d love to move and could package them with that pick for a veteran upgrade. The Blazers and Pelicans could end up competing for guys on the trade market.
Of course, if one of them jumps into the top-4 (26.2% chance for the Pelicans, 37.2% chance for the Trail Blazers) then they would be far less likely to move that pick unless it was for a star.
Stay tuned, as this could be a wild offseason.