The Boston Celtics won the 2017 NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday night, followed by the Los Angeles Lakers at No. 2 and the Philadelphia 76ers at No. 3. Three marquee franchises with a valuable draft pick to use in their quest for another championship.
Whether it’s the Celtics and Lakers being at the top, or something completely different, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst shared an interest nugget on how the lottery results are being received around the league.
Based on sampling of NBA execs I've been in touch with, I wouldn't say these lottery results are being well received in league.
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) May 17, 2017
Re previous tweet, no one thinks anything nefarious with lottery. In general, league enjoys Lakers being down.
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) May 17, 2017
The first six picks of the lottery reveal came with no surprises. The first surprise was the Sacramento Kings leaping from eighth into the top three. That meant the Celtics, Lakers or Phoenix Suns would be bumped out of the top three and get the No. 4 pick. It ended up being the Suns, who had the second-best odds to win the lottery.
Nothing crazy happened. It wasn’t like the team with the worst odds to win wound up with the No. 1 pick, which has happened on multiple occasions.
So, other than people not liking the Lakers or Celtics, we’re not really sure why these lottery results reportedly aren’t being well-received by some league executives. Of course, it could just be executives from teams who are bitter about losing the lottery.
Click to read our post-lottery NBA Mock Draft >>
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
