Cleveland fell to Atlanta in the East’s final play-in game, missing out on a playoff berth. However, there was one silver lining for the Cavaliers: they’re keeping their first-round pick in the 2022 draft.
If the Cavs had won and advanced to the playoffs, the Pacers would have received Cleveland’s lottery-protected pick. But now that pick will be pushed off until next season, with Cleveland owing its lottery-protected 2023 first-rounder to Indiana.
As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter), if the Cavs fail to advance to the postseason in 2023, Indiana will again miss out on the first-round pick and will instead control Cleveland’s 2025 second-round pick.
The Cavs’ pick this season will be No. 14, unless they get lucky and move into the top four in the lottery. The Hawks, meanwhile, will move out of the lottery and will pick at No. 16.
The West’s final play-in tournament contest also had major first-round implications. The Pelicans defeated the Clippers, so the Hornets now own New Orleans’ first-round pick (No. 15), while the Trail Blazers will receive Milwaukee’s 2025 first-rounder (top-four protected; via NOLA).
All is not lost for the Pelicans, of course. In addition to making the playoffs as the No. 8 seed, there’s a 99.6% chance they’ll control the Lakers‘ first-round pick.
The Thunder also picked up an additional lottery pick from the Clippers, as they controlled LAC’s unprotected first-rounder. That pick will have the 12th-best lottery odds.
We’ll have a more complete picture of where things stand for the entire first round after the draft tiebreakers are conducted on Monday, at which point we’ll release a full breakdown of the lottery odds and draft order.
Obv Cavs will want to look for somebody who can contain Trae Young. A lot to ask tho. Could be Rubio as FA but that low lottery pick could be useful.
Thunder were the biggest winners of the night. That PG13 trade will go down as one of the biggest fleecings in history. Likely 2 picks in top 12 and 4 in top 34.
Yup major fleece job, but will OKC actually do anything with these picks? They’ve had multiple first rounders for years now and what do have to show for it? SGA and ???…at this point, with 3 more 1st rounders, they’ll need to clear the previously picked 1st rounders who are underachieving. My guess, Presti will be wheeling & dealing to tighten the roster.
They have young prospects like Bazley and Poku, Tre Mann and Giddey. It takes time to build a sustainable winner.
For years? They JUST started the tank/rebuild last year and drafted Giddey who is a future star. You must not watch much Thunder basketball if you don’t even mention him. Dort, Mann, and Bazley are all good role players as well. SGA is already a star but has been “injured” to help the tank. (Jury is out on Poku but he’s 20 so he has time to develop.)
They hit in his draft and the tanking will be pretty much over as they’ll start trading their 38 draft picks in future drafts for other established players.
The jury is in on Poku & we both know the verdict
Poku showed great improvement this season. He still needs to add strength, but he is going to be a very good player.
Yea I didn’t watch many Thunder games this past season, only a few. So I’m not gonna debate with Thunder fans on inner workings or specifics. My main point is that the roster has a good number of 1st rounders that need more time to develop. With 3 more first rounders in this draft, it’s very hard for me to imagine they pick all 3. As I mentioned, I think Presti will be wheeling & dealing…btw I feel similarly abt SA (3 first rounders) & Memphis (2 first rounders).
Rubio lost to injury was crucial to Cavs winning run. If course, if Sexton was around, Trey wouldn’t be loosely penetrating Cleveland’s interior defense. They should also hire a strong defensive coach. I wonder why Levert was chosen over McCollum?
Don’t get it, wasn’t Nola going to playoffs bad for Blazers pick?
If New Orleans had lost on Friday, the Blazers would’ve been in line to get the Pelicans’ first-round pick as long as it landed between 5-14 (as opposed to jumping into the top 4 on lottery night).
Because New Orleans won, Portland will now get Milwaukee’s top-four protected 2025 first-rounder instead (who knows where it’ll land, but counting on it to be a lottery pick is probably overly optimistic).