The Cleveland Cavaliers entered Tuesday’s 2019 NBA Draft lottery tied for the best odds (a 14.0% chance, per Tankathon) of landing the top pick in next month’s draft and getting the right to select Duke phenom Zion Williamson, and unfortunately, Cleveland landed only the fifth overall pick (though that pick had the highest probability, a 27.8% chance, anyway).
The team that landed first overall was the New Orleans Pelicans, who came into Tuesday only sporting a 6.0% chance (per Tankathon) of landing the top pick, and now recently-hired New Orleans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin, who was the last Cavaliers general manager (before their current one in Koby Altman), had some really good fortune for which to get going in his new NBA gig.