NBA Draft Lottery odds, projections after tiebreaker between Kings, Bulls and Pelicans
.jpg "NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum announces that the Sacramento Kings had won the second pick during the NBA basketball draft lottery Tuesday, May 15, 2018, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)")
The NBA conducted a series of tiebreakers Tuesday to determine final positions for next month’s draft lottery. The Kings were one of several teams with an interest in those proceedings.
The Chicago Bulls won a three-way tiebreaker with the Kings and New Orleans Pelicans for the eighth spot in the June 22 NBA Draft Lottery. The Kings finished ninth followed by the Pelicans at No. 10. The Oklahoma City Thunder won a coin flip with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the fourth spot and the Charlotte Hornets won a tiebreaker with the San Antonio Spurs for the 11th spot.
The Kings, Bulls and Pelicans will all have a 20.3% chance of moving into the top four and a 4.5% chance of being awarded the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft on July 29. If that doesn’t happen — and if none of the teams below them vault into the top four — the Bulls will get the No. 8 pick, the Kings will get the No. 9 pick and the Pelicans will get the No. 10 pick.
The Kings, Pelicans and Bulls all finished with identical 31-41 records, creating a three-way tie for the eighth spot in the draft lottery. If the Bulls don’t move into the top four, their pick will go to the Orlando Magic as part of the Nikola Vucevic trade.
There is a 46.4% chance the Kings will remain at No. 9 and a 29.4% chance they will slide to No. 10. They have a 3.9% chance of falling to No. 11 and a 0.1% chance of falling to No. 12.
Tankathon.com currently projects the Kings will select Corey Kispert, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound small forward from Gonzaga, with the No. 9 pick in the draft. Kispert is one of the top small forwards in the draft along with Jonathan Kuminga (G League Elite), Jalen Johnson (Duke) and Franz Wagner (Michigan).
Kispert, 22, averaged 18.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists while shooting 52.9% from the field and 44% from 3-point range as a senior last season to help Gonzaga reach the NCAA championship game.
Sacramento’s second-round pick will fall in the No. 38-40 range. Teams that finish the regular season with identical records will make their second-round selections in inverse order of their first-round picks. Since the order among the Bulls, Kings and Pelicans could change based on lottery results, the order of second-round selections can’t be determined until after the lottery is conducted.
This story was originally published May 25, 2021 at 12:18 PM.
