Jason Ross: Kings Searching For Rare Lottery Luck
Tonight is the NBA draft lottery.
This has been an all to familiar home for the Sacramento Kings.
Since the lottery was created in 1985 the Kings have been in this spring ritual 21 times. Of all those chances at improving the teams fate they have only moved up one time.
That came in 1989 when the Kings were entering the lottery in the 6th spot and jumped 5 spots to win the first pick. That year the Kings selected Pervis Ellison in what was considered a weaker draft.
Nine times the team has moved backwards in the draft. The worst two occasions happened in 1993 when the Kings pre-lottery position was 4th and they ended up selecting 7th.
In 2009 the Kings had the worst record in the NBA and the best odds of winning the lottery but fell 3 spots from 1 to 4.
With hopes of selecting Blake Griffin the Kings took Tyreke Evans at 4 and he ended up winning Rookie of the Year.
So the remaining 11 times in the lottery this team has held exactly the spot that they entered in. Tonight they are holding an 8th spot with their pick and New Orleans has the 10th spot which will go to the Kings unless the Pelicans jump into the top 3.
The Kings pick (currently 8th) will stay theirs unless somehow 3 teams from behind them jump to the top 3 and that would push the Kings out of the top 10 and the pick would go to Chicago. There is a percentage given to this occurrence but it is actually is so small that I wouldn't even waste your time worrying about it.
Since 2000 that pre lottery position of 8th (which the Kings currently have) has moved into the top 3 only 3 times. IN 2001 the Clippers jumped from 8th to 2nd and selected Tyson Chandler. In 2011 the Cavaliers won the NBA draft lottery from the 8th spot and selected Kyrie Irving.
In 2013 the Washington Wizards jumped from 8th to 3rd and selected Otto Porter. So it can happen but the odds are very slim. Expect the Kings to pick 8th and 10th in next months draft unless they truly get fortunate tonight.
Remember one other thing about that, if the Kings move into the top 3 the Sixers can swap their pick with the Kings. That wouldn't be all devastating the Sixers are slated to pick higher than the Kings and if the Kings had to swap it would still end up better than their current 8th spot.
So my message is to root for some luck and for the Kings to get all their picks right. Enjoy the lottery and let's hope the ball bounces the Kings way.
