Hoops Rumors Originals

2020 NBA Draft Picks By Team

In addition to claiming the top three spots in the 2020 NBA draft based on this year’s lottery results, the Timberwolves, Warriors, and Hornets are three of eight teams that will own more than two draft picks this fall.

As our full 2020 draft order shows, the Sixers lead the way with five picks, while the Kings, Pelicans, and Celtics have four apiece. Like Minnesota, Golden State, and Charlotte, the Knicks also hold three selections. On the other end of the spectrum, the Rockets are the only team without a 2020 draft pick.

To present a clearer picture of which teams are most – and least – stocked with picks for the 2020 NBA draft, we’ve rounded up all 60 picks by team in the space below. Let’s dive in…

Teams with more than two picks:

  • Philadelphia 76ers (5): 21, 34, 36, 49, 58
  • Sacramento Kings (4): 12, 35, 43, 52
  • New Orleans Pelicans (4): 13, 39, 42, 60
  • Boston Celtics (4): 14, 26, 30, 47
  • Minnesota Timberwolves (3): 1, 17, 33
  • Golden State Warriors (3): 2, 48, 51
  • Charlotte Hornets (3): 3, 32, 56
  • New York Knicks (3): 8, 27, 38

Teams with two picks:

  • Chicago Bulls: 4, 44
  • Atlanta Hawks: 6, 50
  • Washington Wizards: 9, 37
  • San Antonio Spurs: 11, 41
  • Orlando Magic: 15, 45
  • Portland Trail Blazers: 16, 46
  • Dallas Mavericks: 18, 31
  • Brooklyn Nets: 19, 55
  • Oklahoma City Thunder: 25, 53
  • Toronto Raptors: 29, 59

Teams with one pick:

  • Cleveland Cavaliers: 5
  • Detroit Pistons: 7
  • Phoenix Suns: 10
  • Miami Heat: 20
  • Denver Nuggets: 22
  • Utah Jazz: 23
  • Milwaukee Bucks: 24
  • Los Angeles Lakers: 28
  • Memphis Grizzlies: 40
  • Indiana Pacers: 54
  • Los Angeles Clippers: 57

Teams with no picks:

  • Houston Rockets

Full 2020 NBA Draft Order

Now that the NBA’s draft lottery results are in, the full 2020 draft order has been set.

We’ll likely see some of these picks change hands on November 18, or in the days leading up to draft night — we’ll be sure to update the list below if and when picks are traded.

Here’s the full 2020 NBA draft order:

First Round:

  1. Minnesota Timberwolves
  2. Golden State Warriors
  3. Charlotte Hornets
  4. Chicago Bulls
  5. Cleveland Cavaliers
  6. Atlanta Hawks
  7. Detroit Pistons
  8. New York Knicks
  9. Washington Wizards
  10. Phoenix Suns
  11. San Antonio Spurs
  12. Sacramento Kings
  13. New Orleans Pelicans
  14. Boston Celtics (from Grizzlies)
  15. Orlando Magic
  16. Houston Rockets (from Trail Blazers)
  17. Minnesota Timberwolves (from Nets)
  18. Dallas Mavericks
  19. Brooklyn Nets (from Sixers)
  20. Miami Heat
  21. Philadelphia 76ers (from Thunder)
  22. Denver Nuggets (from Rockets)
  23. New York Knicks (from Jazz)
  24. New Orleans Pelicans (from Pacers via Bucks)
  25. Oklahoma City Thunder (from Nuggets)
  26. Boston Celtics
  27. Utah Jazz (from Clippers via Knicks)
  28. Oklahoma City Thunder (from Lakers)
  29. Toronto Raptors
  30. Boston Celtics (from Bucks)

Second Round:

  1. Dallas Mavericks (from Warriors)
  2. Charlotte Hornets (from Cavaliers)
  3. Minnesota Timberwolves
  4. Oklahoma City Thunder (from Hawks via Sixers)
  5. Sacramento Kings (from Pistons)
  6. Philadelphia 76ers (from Knicks)
  7. Washington Wizards (from Bulls)
  8. Utah Jazz (from Hornets via Knicks)
  9. New Orleans Pelicans (from Wizards)
  10. Memphis Grizzlies (from Suns)
  11. San Antonio Spurs
  12. New Orleans Pelicans
  13. Sacramento Kings
  14. Chicago Bulls (from Grizzlies)
  15. Milwaukee Bucks (from Magic)
  16. Portland Trail Blazers
  17. Boston Celtics (from Nets)
  18. Golden State Warriors (from Mavericks)
  19. Philadelphia 76ers
  20. Atlanta Hawks (from Heat)
  21. Golden State Warriors (from Jazz)
  22. Sacramento Kings (from Rockets)
  23. Oklahoma City Thunder
  24. Indiana Pacers
  25. Brooklyn Nets (from Nuggets)
  26. Charlotte Hornets (from Celtics)
  27. Los Angeles Clippers
  28. Philadelphia 76ers (from Lakers)
  29. Toronto Raptors
  30. Milwaukee Bucks (via Pelicans)

2020 NBA Draft Lottery Primer

The 2020 NBA draft lottery will take place on Thursday night prior to Game 2 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals between the Lakers and Trail Blazers. The half-hour event will be broadcast on ESPN beginning at 7:30 pm central time.

This year’s draft class doesn’t feature a consensus No. 1 pick like Zion Williamson, but the team that wins the 2020 lottery will get its pick of an intriguing group of top prospects that includes LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, and James Wiseman, among others.

Here’s what you need to know heading into tonight’s lottery:


Pre-Lottery Draft Order:

This year’s draft lottery features the 14 teams that didn’t make the playoffs, sorted by their records as of March 11, the date the 2019/20 season was suspended. The top 14 picks in the 2020 NBA draft would look like this if tonight’s lottery results don’t change the order:

  1. Golden State Warriors
  2. Cleveland Cavaliers
  3. Minnesota Timberwolves
  4. Atlanta Hawks
  5. Detroit Pistons
  6. New York Knicks
  7. Chicago Bulls
  8. Charlotte Hornets
  9. Washington Wizards
  10. Phoenix Suns
  11. San Antonio Spurs
  12. Sacramento Kings
  13. New Orleans Pelicans
  14. Boston Celtics (from Memphis Grizzlies)
    • Note: The Grizzlies will keep this pick if it moves up into the top four (2.4% chance).

For the full pre-lottery draft order, click here.


Draft Lottery Odds:

The Warriors, Cavaliers, and Timberwolves have the best odds to land the No. 1 pick. Each of those three teams has a 14.0% chance to pick first overall, and a 52.1% shot at a top-four pick.

From there, the Hawks (48.1%), Pistons (42.1%), Wizards (37.2%), and Bulls (32.0%) have the best odds to land in the top four.

For the full draft lottery odds for all 14 spots, click here.


Trades Affecting The Draft Lottery:

Only one trade will have an impact on Thursday night’s lottery results. Here are the details on that deal:

Celtics/Grizzlies

The Celtics own the Grizzlies‘ top-six protected first-round pick, so they’ll receive that selection if it’s No. 7 or lower. There’s a 97.6% chance that will happen, since Memphis ranks 14th in the lottery standings.

The pick will either land at No. 14 or move into the top four, in which case the Grizzlies would keep it. There’s only a 2.4% chance that will happen, but Memphis did move up several spots in the lottery a year ago — perhaps the team can get lucky again in 2020.

In the unlikely event that the Grizzlies keep the pick this year, they’d owe the Celtics their unprotected first-round pick in 2021.


Draft Lottery Representatives:

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s draft lottery will be a virtual event, so representatives for each of this year’s lottery teams will be joining the broadcast remotely.

Those reps are as follows, according to a press release issued by the NBA:

  1. Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry
  2. Cleveland Cavaliers: Brad Daugherty (former player)
  3. Minnesota Timberwolves: D’Angelo Russell
  4. Atlanta Hawks: Jami Gertz (co-owner)
  5. Detroit Pistons: Troy Weaver (general manager)
  6. New York Knicks: Leon Rose (president of basketball operations)
  7. Chicago Bulls: Arturas Karnisovas (executive VP of basketball operations)
  8. Charlotte Hornets: Devonte’ Graham
  9. Washington Wizards: Rui Hachimura
  10. Phoenix Suns: James Jones (general manager)
  11. San Antonio Spurs: Peter J. Holt (team owner)
  12. Sacramento Kings: De’Aaron Fox
  13. New Orleans Pelicans: Trajan Langdon (general manager)
  14. Memphis Grizzlies: Elliot Perry (minority owner/director of player support)

Lottery Format:

This will be the second year that the NBA uses its revamped lottery system, which reduces the odds that the league’s very worst teams will land a top pick and makes the top four selections available via the lottery, instead of the top three.

One year is too small a sample size to draw any conclusions about the new format, but 2019’s results showed that the smoothed-out odds have the potential to create a little more mayhem on lottery night.

A year ago, the Pelicans, Grizzlies, and Lakers claimed three of the top four picks despite ranking seventh, eight, and 11th, respectively, in the lottery standings. If that were to happen again this year, it’d mean the Bulls at No. 1, the Hornets at No. 2, and the Spurs at No. 4.

Before the NBA changed its lottery format, there was a 60.5% chance that one of the league’s bottom three teams would secure the No. 1 pick, and only a 27.6% chance that a team in the 5-14 range of the lottery standings would do so. Now, those odds are 42.0% and 45.5%, respectively.

For full details on the revamped lottery format, click here.


Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Poll: Lakers’ Postseason Outlook

A dominant regular season leading up to the stoppage of the NBA’s season in March all but locked up the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference for the Lakers entering the summer restart. However, the team hasn’t quite looked like itself since play resumed. LeBron James‘ squad went 3-5 during the seeding games and dropped Game 1 of its first-round series to the No. 8 Trail Blazers.

The Lakers’ shooting doomed them in Game 1. Despite out-rebounding the Blazers, winning the turnover battle, and moving the ball better, the Lakers just couldn’t put the ball in the basket, finishing with an abysmal shooting line of .351/.156/.645.

L.A. still only lost by seven points, and the team’s shooting won’t be that bad every game. But beyond James and Anthony Davis, many of the Lakers’ secondary scorers are streaky, including Danny Green and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who went a combined 4-of-21 from the floor on Tuesday. Additionally, Avery Bradley‘s absence means the club is without its top perimeter defender — that’s not insignificant in a series against Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.

In a discussion about the Lakers’ situation today, ESPN’s writers expressed mixed opinions on whether it’s too early to start worrying about the team. As Kevin Pelton points out, L.A. is still getting the same quality shots it got during the regular season, and it seems likely those shots will start dropping at some point. However, Nick Friedell and Andre Snellings view the Lakers’ roster as top-heavy and have questions about the supporting cast.

Neither Friedell nor Royce Young necessarily expects the Lakers to fall in the first round to the eighth-seeded Blazers. However, both ESPN writers expressed skepticism that L.A. should still be considered a prime championship frontrunner.

It’s worth noting that even before the Lakers’ Game 1 loss to Portland, sports books had generally started listing the Clippers as title favorites over the Lakers, with some moving the Bucks ahead as well, per David Purdum of ESPN.

What do you think? Has your opinion of the Lakers changed at all since the restart began? Do you expect them to start firing on all cylinders again any day now? How confident do you feel right now in forecasting a Finals appearance – or win – for the Lakers?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

2020 NBA Offseason Preview: New York Knicks

Hoops Rumors is previewing the 2020 offseason for all 30 NBA teams. We’re looking at the key questions facing each club, as well as the roster decisions they’ll have to make this fall. Today, we’re focusing on the New York Knicks.


Salary Cap Outlook

The Knicks have seven players with non-guaranteed (or partially guaranteed) contracts or team options for next season, totaling nearly $50MM. Their decisions on those players will go a long ways toward dictating their cap flexibility for the coming offseason.

Assuming at least a couple of the more expensive players are let go – including Bobby Portis ($15.75MM) and Wayne Ellington ($8MM) – New York is in position to open up a decent chunk of cap room — perhaps in the $25-30MM range.

Our full salary cap preview for the Knicks can be found right here.


Roster Decisions To Watch

Options:

  • Bobby Portis, team option: $15,750,000 (Oct. 17 deadline)
  • Theo Pinson, team option: $1,701,593 (Oct. 17 deadline)

Non-Guaranteed Contracts:

  • Taj Gibson ($9,450,000)
    • Note: Partially guaranteed for $1MM.
  • Wayne Ellington ($8,000,000)
    • Note: Partially guaranteed for $1MM.
  • Elfrid Payton ($8,000,000)
    • Note: Partially guaranteed for $1MM.
  • Reggie Bullock ($4,200,000)
    • Note: Partially guaranteed for $1MM.
  • Mitchell Robinson ($1,663,861)

Two-Way Contracts:

Free Agents:


2020 Draft Assets

First Round:

  • No. 6 overall pick (pending lottery results)
  • No. 27 overall pick

The Knicks have the sixth-best lottery odds, but their most likely pick is No. 7 (29.6%). They have a 9.0% chance at the No. 1 pick and a 37.2% chance at a top-four selection. No. 6 (8.6%), No. 8 (20.6%), and No. 9 (3.8%) are also in play, while No. 10 (0.2%) is an extreme long shot.

The Knicks will also receive the Clippers’ first-round pick, which landed at No. 27.

Second Round:

  • No. 38 overall pick

The Knicks traded away their own second-round pick (No. 36), but acquired the Hornets’ selection, which will be No. 38.


Three Key Offseason Questions

1. What sort of impact will the Knicks’ new leadership have?

The Knicks have undergone a major overhaul off the court in 2020. Veteran player agent Leon Rose was hired to head up the team’s basketball operations department, with Frank Zanin and Walt Perrin coming aboard as assistant general managers and William “World Wide Wes” Wesley being named the club’s executive VP/senior basketball advisor.

The first major task the new-look front office faced was hiring a permanent head coach, and the group settled on Tom Thibodeau, who has six postseason appearances and four playoff series wins under his belt as a head coach in Chicago and Minnesota.

There has been no shortage of turnover within the Knicks’ leadership ranks since the team last appeared in the playoffs in 2013. Thibodeau is the seventh head coach since then, and the front office has been overseen by several executives in recent years, including Steve Mills, Scott Perry, and Phil Jackson.

None of those coaches or execs have had much success in New York, and one school of thought suggests that team owner James Dolan is to blame. As long as Dolan is running the show, the theory goes, the Knicks will be incapable of building a winning culture and becoming a desirable landing spot for NBA stars.

Dolan may not be the ideal NBA team owner, but he has mostly avoided meddling in basketball matters in recent years, and he can’t be blamed for the majority of the questionable signings, draft picks, and trades the Knicks have made during that time. The right front office and head coach should be able to succeed in spite of Dolan, and the law of averages suggests that the franchise should – at some point – stumble upon the right combination.

Can Rose and Thibodeau be that “right combination”? The Knicks are hopeful that Rose’s decades of experience dealing with players and building relationships will translate into success in roster building and free agent recruiting. And Thibodeau is an experienced head coach who is liked and respected by a number of veteran stars around the league. It’s too early to draw any conclusions, but there’s at least some reason for optimism that this president/coach pairing can be more effective than the team’s recent duos.

2. Will the Knicks take a different approach with cap room this time around?

A year ago, the Knicks entered the offseason with enough cap space available to sign two maximum-salary free agents. But they were unable to convince any of the top players on the market to sign with them, and instead used the majority of their cap room to sign solid but unspectacular veterans to deals with no more than one fully guaranteed season (Julius Randle, who received two fully guaranteed seasons on his three-year contract, was the exception).

The thinking was that those veterans could help the Knicks compete for a playoff spot, then if things didn’t work out, they could be shopped for draft picks or young players at the trade deadline. New York was never in the playoff race though, and the only veteran who drew considerable interest at the deadline was Marcus Morris, who was almost an accidental signing last July — he received most of the Knicks’ remaining cap room after pulling out of a verbal agreement with the Spurs.

The Knicks can’t force star free agents to sign with them, and using their cap room to invest in long-term deals for second- or third-tier players would be ill-advised. But there were other ways to maximize their cap space, and there will be again this year, as long as the club sheds some of those 2019 signees without full guarantees for ’20/21.

The trade market offers one such avenue. A year ago, the Clippers’ willingness to take on Maurice Harkless’ $11MM expiring contract earned them a first-round pick along with a player who was a key part of their rotation until he was flipped at the trade deadline. The Knicks didn’t take advantage of any similar trade opportunities with their cap room in 2019, but they could look to do so in 2020 if there are no free agents who catch their eye.

Simply accommodating a salary-dump or two could allow New York to acquire some extra draft capital, but the team could get more ambitious than that. If the Knicks are willing to take on multiyear money, they could target high-priced impact players such as Chris Paul or Blake Griffin. Those guys likely aren’t part of their teams’ long-term plans and wouldn’t require a massive return, given their exorbitant salaries.

I’m a little skeptical that the new front office will want to go that route though, since it would mean compromising the team’s cap flexibility for 2021 for stop-gap veterans. The Knicks will want a shot at the top players in next year’s class, which will probably mean using this year’s room to sign short-term deals or to acquire expiring contracts.

3. What do the Knicks have in their former lottery picks?

Among the Knicks’ returning players, there are four who were top-10 picks in the last three NBA drafts: Frank Ntilikina (No. 8 in 2017), Dennis Smith Jr. (No. 9 in ’17), Kevin Knox (No. 9 in ’18), and RJ Barrett (No. 3 in ’19).

This will be a crucial year for all four, but especially for Ntilikina and Smith, who are entering the final season of their respective rookie contracts. Ntilikina is a strong defender whose offensive game remains extremely limited, while Smith’s shooting struggles have held him back. It seems safe to assume that neither will receive a rookie scale extension this offseason — the question is whether either will begin the season with a new team.

The Knicks have been unwilling to sell low on Ntilikina in the past and didn’t end up moving Smith at this season’s deadline. But Rose didn’t draft either player, so if he doesn’t view them as part of New York’s future, he may be more inclined to view them as sunk costs and take what he can get in a trade. On the other hand, if Rose wants to see what Thibodeau can get out of them, Ntilikina and Smith may get one more chance to prove they can be part of the organization’s plan going forward.

With two years left on his rookie deal, Knox isn’t at the same crossroads as the 2017 lottery picks, but after an extremely underwhelming sophomore season, he’s under pressure to show improvement in 2020/21 under Thibodeau. He’ll be eligible for a rookie scale extension a year from now, but unless he takes major strides between now and then, he’s unlikely to get one.

As for Barrett, he showed promise as a rookie and is the best candidate – besides Mitchell Robinson – to be a long-term fixture in New York. However, Rose and Thibodeau will have to make it a priority to put him in a better position to succeed. The former Duke standout was surrounded by too many ball-dominant players rather than floor-spacers in 2019/20, limiting his ability to maximize his impact.

Information from Basketball Insiders and ESPN was used in the creation of this post. Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2020 NBA Draft Lottery Odds

The 2020 NBA draft lottery is just three days away, having been rescheduled to Thursday, August 20 after being postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The event could significantly impact the fate of several NBA franchises vying for the right to select top prospects such as Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, and James Wiseman.

This will be the second time that the NBA is using a new lottery format that has smoothed out the odds, reducing the league’s worst team’s chance of getting the No. 1 pick from 25.0% to 14.0%. A year ago, the new format had an immediate impact — the Pelicans and Grizzlies were tied for the seventh-best lottery odds, but jumped up to No. 1 and 2, respectively, allowing them to land Zion Williamson and Ja Morant.

For a full breakdown of the system, be sure to check out our glossary entry on the subject.

The standard odds chart for the new draft lottery format is included in our glossary entry, but the numbers in that chart don’t quite match up with 2020’s lottery, since a couple teams finished the season with identical records, which will impact the odds for this year’s lottery.

With the help of data from Tankathon.com – which is worth checking out for all sorts of draft-related info – we’ve listed the new odds for 2020 in the chart below.

The numbers in the chart indicate percentages, so the Warriors, for instance, have a 14% chance of landing the No. 1 pick and a 47.9% chance of ending up at No. 5. If a team’s odds are listed as >0, that percentage is below 0.1%.

Here’s the full chart:

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
GSW 14 13.4 12.7 12 47.9
CLE 14 13.4 12.7 12 27.8 20
MIN 14 13.4 12.7 12 14.8 26 7.1
ATL 12.5 12.2 11.9 11.5 7.2 25.7 16.8 2.2
DET 10.5 10.5 10.6 10.5 2.2 19.6 26.7 8.8 0.6
NYK 9 9.2 9.4 9.6 8.6 29.6 20.6 3.8 0.2
CHI 7.5 7.8 8.1 8.5 19.7 34.1 12.9 1.3 >0
CHA 6 6.3 6.7 7.2 34.5 32.1 6.7 0.4 >0
WSH 4.5 4.8 5.2 5.7 50.7 25.9 3 0.1 >0
PHX 3 3.3 3.6 4 65.9 18.9 1.2 >0 >0
SAS 2 2.2 2.4 2.8 77.6 12.6 0.4 >0
SAC 1.3 1.4 1.6 1.8 86.1 7.6 0.1
NOP 1.2 1.3 1.5 1.7 92.0 2.3
MEM 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.7 97.6

Notes:

  • The Grizzlies‘ pick will be sent to the Celtics unless it moves up into the top four.

The full pre-lottery draft order for 2020 can be found right here.

2020 Pre-Lottery NBA Draft Order

The NBA conducted its draft tiebreakers on Monday, further cementing the draft order for 2020. While we’ll have to wait until this Thursday’s draft lottery to determine the exact order for this year’s event, we now know what most of the 60 selections look like.

Listed below is the pre-lottery 2020 NBA draft order. Each lottery team’s chances of landing the No. 1 overall pick are noted in parentheses. We’ve also included notes for picks whose status remains up in the air — for example, the Grizzlies‘ first-round pick could still technically end up with either Memphis or the Celtics.

For teams with identical records, Monday’s tiebreakers only determined the first-round order — that order is reversed in the second round. As such, a couple second-round picks may hinge on next month’s lottery results.

For instance, even though the Kings won the tiebreaker vs. the Pelicans for the No. 12 spot in the lottery order, New Orleans could still leapfrog Sacramento in the lottery, in which case the Kings’ second-round pick would move ahead of the Pelicans’ second-rounder.

We’ll provided an updated list after the August 20 lottery, once the official draft order is set, but here’s the tentative 2020 NBA draft order:

First Round:

  1. Golden State Warriors (14.0%)
  2. Cleveland Cavaliers (14.0%)
  3. Minnesota Timberwolves (14.0%)
  4. Atlanta Hawks (12.5%)
  5. Detroit Pistons (10.5%)
  6. New York Knicks (9.0%)
  7. Chicago Bulls (7.5%)
  8. Charlotte Hornets (6.0%)
  9. Washington Wizards (4.5%)
  10. Phoenix Suns (3.0%)
  11. San Antonio Spurs (2.0%)
  12. Sacramento Kings (1.3%)
  13. New Orleans Pelicans (1.2%)
  14. Boston Celtics (from Grizzlies) (0.5%)
    • Note: The Grizzlies will keep this pick if it moves up into the top four (2.4% chance).
  15. Orlando Magic
  16. Portland Trail Blazers
  17. Minnesota Timberwolves (from Nets)
  18. Dallas Mavericks
  19. Brooklyn Nets (from Sixers)
  20. Miami Heat
  21. Philadelphia 76ers (from Thunder)
  22. Denver Nuggets (from Rockets)
  23. Utah Jazz
  24. Milwaukee Bucks (from Pacers)
  25. Oklahoma City Thunder (from Nuggets)
  26. Boston Celtics
  27. New York Knicks (from Clippers)
  28. Los Angeles Lakers
  29. Toronto Raptors
  30. Boston Celtics (from Bucks)

Second Round:

  1. Dallas Mavericks (from Warriors)
  2. Charlotte Hornets (from Cavaliers)
  3. Minnesota Timberwolves
  4. Philadelphia 76ers (from Hawks)
  5. Sacramento Kings (from Pistons)
  6. Philadelphia 76ers (from Knicks)
  7. Washington Wizards (from Bulls)
  8. New York Knicks (from Hornets)
  9. New Orleans Pelicans (from Wizards)
  10. Memphis Grizzlies (from Suns)
  11. San Antonio Spurs
  12. New Orleans Pelicans
  13. Sacramento Kings
    • Note: Kings would swap places with Pelicans if New Orleans gets higher first-round pick than Sacramento via lottery.
  14. Chicago Bulls (from Grizzlies)
  15. Orlando Magic
  16. Portland Trail Blazers
  17. Boston Celtics (from Nets)
  18. Golden State Warriors (from Mavericks)
  19. Philadelphia 76ers
  20. Atlanta Hawks (from Heat)
  21. Golden State Warriors (from Jazz)
  22. Sacramento Kings (from Rockets)
  23. Oklahoma City Thunder
  24. Indiana Pacers
  25. Brooklyn Nets (from Nuggets)
  26. Charlotte Hornets (from Celtics)
  27. Los Angeles Clippers
  28. Philadelphia 76ers (from Lakers)
  29. Toronto Raptors
  30. New Orleans Pelicans (from Bucks)

Information from NBA.com was used in the creation of this post.

Community Shootaround: First Round Playoff Predictions

The NBA postseason, originally scheduled to get underway on April 18, will finally begin today, about four months later than anticipated. Although the coronavirus pandemic threw a wrench into the NBA’s plans for the end of the 2019/20 campaign, the league is now in a good position to finish its season at its Walt Disney World campus.

Of the eight first-round playoff series scheduled to begin on Monday and Tuesday, the majority of the most fascinating matchups can be found in the Western Conference. And no first-round series is considered more of a toss-up than the No. 4 Rockets against the No. 5 Thunder.

The two teams finished with identical 44-28 records, despite the fact that last July’s Russell Westbrook/Chris Paul swap was one in a series of moves that made it seem as if Houston was going all-in on the 2019/20 season while Oklahoma City was taking a step back. A quad strain has compromised Westbrook’s availability for the start of the series, which dampens the Westbrook vs. Paul subplot, but Houston remains the slight favorite at -160, according to Caesar’s Sportsbook (link via ESPN). In other words, you’d have to risk $160 on the Rockets in order to collect $100 if they win the series.

The next-tightest matchup, per Caesar’s, is also in the West, as the No. 3 Nuggets (-220) face the No. 6 Jazz. Utah is likely relieved not to have to face Houston in the first round after being dismantled by the Rockets in the last two postseasons. But the Jazz will enter the playoffs without Bojan Bogdanovic and Mike Conley available. While Conley – who is away for the birth of his child – should be back at some point during the series, Bogdanovic is out for the season due to wrist surgery and his absence will limit Utah’s upside — even if the Nuggets are still without a couple key players of their own (Gary Harris and Will Barton).

The No. 1 Lakers (-450) are solid favorites over the No. 8 Trail Blazers, as are the No. 2 Clippers (-550) vs. the No. 7 Mavericks. But both of those lower seeds are frisky — Damian Lillard and Luka Doncic are each capable of single-handedly leading their teams to a win or two, and neither L.A. team has been so dominant this season that we should assume either series will be a cakewalk.

Over in the East, there are a pair of series that oddsmakers assume will be a cakewalk. The No. 2 Raptors (-5,000) are huge favorites over the No. 7 Nets, while the No. 1 Bucks (-15,000) are absolutely massive favorites over the No. 8 Magic, per Caesar’s.

Milwaukee and Toronto look like two of the NBA’s best teams, while Brooklyn and Orlando have both been hit hard by injuries and finished the season with losing records. The Nets have at least played impressive ball during the restart, knocking off the Clippers and Bucks and nearly ruining Portland’s playoff chances. They look like a better bet than the Magic to make a top seed sweat a little.

Elsewhere in the East, the No. 3 Celtics (-400) are solid favorites over the No. 6 Sixers, and the No. 5 Heat (-320) are considered good bets to defeat the No. 4 Pacers. That Boston/Philadelphia series would have been a whole lot more intriguing if Ben Simmons were healthy — without him, it’s not clear if the 76ers will have an answer for Boston’s versatile offensive attack. But Joel Embiid has always had success vs. the C’s, so if he can stay healthy and have a big series, the Sixers could make things interesting.

The Pacers, meanwhile, would be a more intriguing upset pick if they had Domantas Sabonis available and if Victor Oladipo were a lock to be at full strength. The Heat, who won the season series 3-0, look like the safer pick, but this could still be the most competitive first-round series in the East.

What do you think? Do you expect any underdogs to make it out of the first round, or are you picking the favorites across the board? Are there any 1-8 or 2-7 matchups that you think could be more competitive than advertised? Which first-round series do you expect to be the most entertaining?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts and your picks!

Community Shootaround: Play-In Series

The NBA made some history this afternoon with its first-ever play-in series, and the results could help make it a permanent part of the league’s postseason.

The Trail Blazers rallied from an eight-point fourth quarter deficit to edge the Grizzlies and claim the West’s final playoff spot. Because Portland held the eighth seed, it only took one victory to advance, while Memphis would have needed to win two in a row.

“I was thinking I don’t want to play again tomorrow,” Portland’s CJ McCollum, who is dealing with a back injury, said in an ESPN interview. “We had to get this done tonight, [and] make sure we came in and finished them off. We’re thankful to be in a position to be able to make the playoffs, and we didn’t want to squander an opportunity.”

Commissioner Adam Silver said Friday he hopes the play-in series will become an annual event, and it seems many fans and reporters agree. Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News called on the league to replace its “outdated” tie-breaker system that is based on head-to-head records, along with division and conference results.

The set-up used in Orlando called for a play-in series as long as the eighth and ninth seeds were within four games of each other. Winfield believes that’s too much of a margin to use in a normal season and suggests the series only be implemented if the teams are tied or no more than a game apart.

Silver has long been a fan of the play-in series concept and introduced the idea last fall as part of a switch to a 78-game season. His proposal would have had teams seven through 10 in each conference competing for the final two seeds. This year’s series added a lot of drama to the final days of seeding games as the Blazers, Grizzlies, Suns and Spurs all entered Thursday with a chance to qualify.

We want to get your input. Should the NBA hold a play-in series every year, regardless of how close the race is for playoff spots? And should one or two playoff spots be at stake in each conference? Please leave your comments in the space below.

Free Agent Stock Watch: Restart Edition

Throughout the season, Hoops Rumors takes a closer look at players who will be free agents or could become free agents this off-season. With the seeding games winding down at the Orlando campus, it’s time to examine if their stock is rising or falling due to performance and other factors.

Carmelo Anthony, Trail Blazers, 36, PF (Up) – Signed to a one-year, $2.16MM deal in 2019
Remember when Anthony’s reps were practically begging teams to give their client one more chance to play in the league? Carmelo took advantage of his opportunity with the Trail Blazers, finally accepting his new status as a role player instead of being the No. 1 offensive option. He’s turned it up a notch in Orlando during the Blazers’ run to the play-in round. The slimmed-down Anthony has reached the 20-point mark four times in eight games and made 46.9% of his 3s, while also being a factor on the boards (6.9 RPG). He won’t have to lobby for another contract after this season, nor will he have to accept the veteran’s minimum again.

Brandon Ingram, Pelicans, 22, SF (Down) – Signed to a four-year, $23.8MM deal in 2016
It’s not that Ingram was terrible in Orlando. It’s just that the Pelicans stunk up the joint and the stench clung to everyone involved. Following a breakout season which earned him an All-Star selection, Ingram was unable to carry his team into the play-in round. New Orleans’ poor performances left everyone wondering whether the roster should be reshaped, especially with the front office owning a boatload of draft picks. And Zion Williamson isn’t going anywhere. So while Ingram will still get rewarded handsomely in restricted free agency, is he worth franchise-player type money? There’s no guarantee now the Pels will match if he gets a giant offer sheet.

Cameron Payne, Suns, 26, PG (Up) – Signed to a two-year, $2.17MM deal in 2020
Payne was on the free agent market this summer and was signed to fill an open roster spot prior to the restart. Phoenix didn’t bring him in simply for insurance. He appeared in all eight seeding games as a backup point guard, averaging 10.9 PPG, 3.9 RPG and 3.0 APG in 22.9 MPG. Though he signed a two-year contract, only $25K of that money for next season is guaranteed, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks recently noted. The way Payne performed in Orlando, he should have no trouble staying on the roster and earning the rest of his $1.977MM salary for 2020/21 as a second-unit player.

Tyler Johnson, Nets, 28, PG/SG (Up) – Signed to a one-year, $217K deal in 2020
Johnson signed a four-year, $50MM offer sheet with Brooklyn four summers ago but Miami chose to retain him. He finally wound up with the Nets in free agency and got just over $200K in a rest-of-the-season deal. No matter. Johnson was happy to get fresh start and it has shown during Brooklyn’s gritty performances in Orlando. He’s averaged 12.0 PPG, 3.1 RPG and 3.0 APG in 24.3 MPG and can now continue his push for another contract during the postseason. If the Nets don’t retain him, Johnson should easily find a home as a second-unit combo guard.

Jerian Grant, Wizards, 27, PG/SG (Down) – Signed to a one-year, $197K deal in 2020
Grant was signed as a substitute player in June after Davis Bertans opted out of the restart. Grant called it a “dream come true” to play for his hometown team, but he didn’t give the Wizards much incentive to re-sign him to an NBA contract. He appeared in six restart games, averaging 4.5 PPG and 1.5 APG in 13.3 MPG while shooting 25% from long range. Grant spent most of the season with the Wizards’ G League team and he may have to go that route again or look into overseas options.