The NBA regular season ended on Wednesday night, which means that the lottery odds are now set (well, besides ties). Sam Hinkie has left the Philadelphia 76ers, but the picks that he acquired are sticking around to be used how Bryan Colangelo sees fit. Let’s not waste any time and get right into it:
• Part one
• Part two
• Part three
• Part four
• Part five
Sixers pick
The Sixers finished 10-72, and their .122 winning percentage was the third worst in the history of the NBA behind only the 2012 Charlotte Bobcats and 1973 Sixers. From an on-court perspective, there is very little positive you can take from this season. The worst record gives them a 25 percent chance at the top pick, the same odds that landed Minnesota Karl-Anthony Towns last year.
The Kings finished in a three-way tie for eighth with Denver and Milwaukee, which means they’ll split the lottery balls from 8-10. With the pick swap, the Kings’ 1.9 percent chance at the top pick moves the Sixers’ number up to 26.9 percent. More importantly, the Sixers move up to almost exactly a 50/50 chance at a Top-2 pick (likely Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram).
Also, this was pretty funny:
Jazz fans have had a rough couple of weeks, capped off by…
Lakers pick (protected 1-3)
KOBE! Bryant’s final game was ridiculous, but it was also undeniably great to watch:
As Mike Tirico said last night, Kobe’s farewell tour was the deodorant to a terrible Los Angeles season. Anyway, the Lakers pick has a 44.2 percent chance (31.9% at 4, 12.3% at 5) of conveying to the Sixers this year.
Heat pick (protected 1-10)
Everything broke right for the Sixers last night, as the Heat blew a 26-point lead up at The Garden in Boston. That left a four-way tie in the standings:
This is how the standings shook out for the playoffs (with Miami as the 3 seed), but as far as draft position, the teams will have coin flips to determine who picks where. The Sixers will get the Miami pick this year, somewhere between 21 and 24.
Thunder pick (protected 1-15)
26 it is, as the Toronto Raptors ripped off four straight wins to close the season. Lost in the shadow of Kobe’s performance last night, Steph Curry didn’t play half bad:
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