Lakers, Kings have draft picks in play depending on lottery finish
Playoff hopes may be a distant memory for some of the NBA’s bottom-scraping teams, but there are still some interesting storylines.
Yes, the Los Angeles Lakers are doing a surprisingly terrible job of tanking this month, beating the Bucks, Jazz and Celtics in their last three, but it's not just them! The Knicks have won two straight. The 76ers beat the Wizards Friday. The Timberwolves actually have a losing streak, but they've won five out of their last 10 games.
C’mon guys. These four are supposed to be the gold standard of tanking. This is the chance for one of them to “gain some ground” and let another team pass you, increasing the odds of a lower seed and better pick.
In fairness, they're trying. The Knicks played Lou Amundson 24 minutes in their last win. The 76ers shot 35 percent as a team and still won because their opponent only shot 32 percent. The Lakers have rested Nick Young in consecutive games because of swelling in his knee, perhaps knowing he can afford to take a few extra days to make sure he's totally healthy before returning. Regardless of its bad rap, tanking doesn't stop teams from winning games here and there. The bottom tier is showing that right now.
With that in mind, let’s look at the teams currently scraping the bottom of the standings and what important scenarios could occur because of it.
Western Conference
The big picture of the West is fascinating, involving two high-value draft picks potentially changing hands depending on how things shake out.
Philadelphia own the rights to Los Angeles' first-round pick if they finish outside the top five after the lottery. The Lakers, hoping to retool around Kobe Bryant one more time this summer, desperately need to keep their pick to assist that quest next summer. Meanwhile, should they fall out of the top five, the Sixers could potentially have two picks in the top six of next summer's draft.
The Lakers are currently the fourth-worst team in the league, with a three and a half game lead on Philadelphia and a two game deficit to Orlando. Ideally, Los Angeles needs to stay bottom four. Last year, the Celtics had the fifth-worst record and ended up with the No. 6 pick. The Lakers don’t want to be facing a similar situation.
The other pick scenario worth mentioning involves Sacramento, who owes a pick to Chicago if they finish outside of the top 10. The Kings are currently the seventh-worst team in the league and are two games back of ninth-worst Utah. Despite a promising start to the year, at this point, it would be best for Sacramento to stay on their current trajectory.
As for the Timberwolves, they're the tank team with the best chance of rising a bit in the standings. Ricky Rubio is back, Kevin Martin was not bought out, Andrew Wiggins is playing some of his best basketball and Kevin Garnett has returned for a reunion tour of sorts. Of course, they also have the toughest schedule of any of the teams we talked about -- eight West playoff hopefuls in March and four more to round out the season in April.
Eastern Conference
The current worst team in the NBA is the Knicks, and they show no signs of giving that title up despite a couple recent wins. Their schedule in March is tough -- a five-game road trip to the West Coast, a handful of Western Conference playoff teams and some tough back-to-backs. April does get a little easier, and if there’s any chance to pull themselves out of dead last (not a desired outcome at this point), it’ll happen then, with eight games all against the East.
Meanwhile, the Sixers only play 12 of their final 25 games against playoff teams, and several of those are struggling Eastern Conference squads. They downgraded at the trade deadline by trading away Michael Carter-Williams and K.J. McDaniels, but adding Isaiah Canaan and finally seeing Jason Richardson return from a long injury sabbatical helps provide some additional talent to make up for those losses. After an embarrassing 0-17 start, the Sixers could win five or six more games before the season is up and finish with a surprisingly respectable 18 or 19 wins.
Don't expect the Magic to keep bottoming out. Although they currently boast the NBA's fifth-worst record, they've won four of eight since former head coach Jacque Vaughn was fired Feb. 5. The dismissal appears to have put some life into a young Magic team down the stretch.
The playoff picture deserves, like, 98 percent of your attention through the remainder of the NBA season, but glance over and see what the lottery is up to a few times. The way things play out could have a huge impact on the future
