Sports Talk

Did San Antonio hit the jackpot?

Is the NBA draft lottery viable?

Posted 5/18/23

The annual NBA Draft Lottery took place Tuesday night in Chicago and the San Antonio Spurs truly may have hit the jackpot after getting the No. 1 overall pick.

This year’s prize is a once …

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Sports Talk

Did San Antonio hit the jackpot?

Is the NBA draft lottery viable?

Posted

The annual NBA Draft Lottery took place Tuesday night in Chicago and the San Antonio Spurs truly may have hit the jackpot after getting the No. 1 overall pick.

This year’s prize is a once in a lifetime prospect hailing from France — Victor Wembanyama.

If you are just hearing that name for the first time, please look into some of his highlights in Europe.

He is a tall, athletic big man who can handle the ball, plays incredible defense — while also being able to hit a 3-pointer consistently.

His exact height continues to be a question at 19 years old, it ranges from 7 feet, 2 inches, all the way up to 7 feet, 5 inches with shoes on, along with a nearly 8 foot long wingspan.

How often do super tall players work out?

Not too often.

Injuries seem to constantly plague taller players especially due to their physique, and he is no exception due to his slight frame.

Could he have a couple years of growth like Giannis Antetkounmpo? Definitely. However it will be difficult at his height to put on weight significantly.

Now, he likely heads to San Antonio with the intention of becoming their third big man to be drafted No. 1 overall by the franchise — joining David Robinson and Tim Duncan who have been legends in their own rights for the Spurs.

The Spurs have already had success internationally in France, with players like Tony Parker and Boris Diaw being key parts of their championship runs throughout the 2000s and 2010s.

Now it goes without saying, due to his height, there is definitely a risk to be taken, but the upside with Wembanyama is something we haven’t seen hyped since LeBron James was drafted 20 years ago.

He has been projected as the top pick in this draft for as long as I can remember, and that is even ahead of Scoot Henderson who would be the No. 1 pick any other year had Wembanyama not existed.

But how did the lottery work out for everybody else?

The Detroit Pistons for the second year in a row dropped out of the top three all the way down to the No. 5 pick.

Last year it worked out and they drafted Jaden Ivey who had a strong rookie season, but it is just not beneficial for these teams to continue dropping down that many spots while continuing to have the worst record in the NBA.

Basketball, hockey and now baseball, which added the system last year, all hold a lottery to determine the No. 1 overall pick, but I feel as if they should all revert back to the system that football uses where the worst team has the top pick that year.

The consistency the NFL has with the ability for some teams to go from zero to hero in just one year makes that system more intriguing, giving smaller markets and consistently losing teams an opportunity to draft high each year depending on how much they lost.

Now Detroit still gets a top five pick, but they fell as far as they could from being tied with the Spurs and Houston Rockets with a 14% chance of winning the lottery.

The Pistons are a team that is currently on the rise and could potentially land a strong player to go alongside Ivey and Cade Cunningham who missed a majority of the season with an injury, but they would have had the top pick had the lottery not existed.

I feel as if the system has been productive at times in the past, but has also been a downside for a majority of small market teams that can’t draw big name free agents.

Should they get rid of the system? Yes.

Will Wembanyama end up a star with the Spurs? If he stays healthy, absolutely.

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