The New Orleans Pelicans have lost three in a row and dropped to second in the Western Conference standings.
They hope to get back on track tonight against the Bucks, but Pels’ fans have to be excited about what they’ve seen so far considering where this team is and the fact that they have rarely had their full roster of players.
Pels fans will also have one eye on the other end of the standings, as New Orleans has the right to swap picks with the LA Lakers and are hoping they can get back into the lottery or even pull off a miracle and land Victor Wembanyama.
The Lakers were terrible to start the season, but have since turned things around, mostly because of Anthony Davis, who was playing like an MVP.
But LA got some devastating news recently that could put a damper on their rise in the standings:
Lakers are bracing for an indefinite absence for the Lakers star, sources say, after he sustained the right foot injury in Friday’s win over Denver. Davis has played arguably the most dominant ball of his career this season. https://t.co/WCTr2y7eNp
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 18, 2022
AD will be out for several weeks at least, and though I would never cheer for a player to be injured, his absence could help the New Orleans Pelicans get back into the lottery.
New Orleans Pelicans’ lottery odds today
Currently, the LA Lakers are 13-16, good for the 12th seed in the Western Conference and 1.5 games back of the 10th and final play-in spot that is held by the Golden State Warriors.
This gives the Lakers the 10th-worst record in the league, so if the season ended today, the Pelicans would swap picks with them and give LA the 25th pick.
Right now, the Pels would have just a three percent chance of lucking out and landing the #1 pick and would have a 13.9 percent chance of jumping into the top four.
Here are the Pelicans’ lottery odds for each pick as they stand today:
- 1st pick: 3%
- 2nd pick: 3.3%
- 3rd pick: 3.6%
- 4th pick: 4%
- 10th pick: 65.9%
- 11th pick: 19%
- 12th pick:1.2%
As you can see, they would have a small chance of jumping into the top four, but as it stands, their highest odds would be for the 10th or 11th pick.
To give you an idea of the type of player they could get in that range, Tankathon currently has Jarace Walker from Houston 10th on their big board and Anthony Black from Arkansas at 11th.
There is still a lot of season to play, and the New Orleans Pelicans have their own business to take care of, but they will also have one eye on the Lakers, especially with Anthony Davis sidelined.