May 16 will be a monumentally important night in determining the landscape of the NBA over the next several years thanks to the NBA Draft Lottery. More than in any year in recent memory, the gap between the best and worst-case scenarios is quite wide for quite a few teams.
The Los Angeles Lakers could keep their pick if it falls inside the top three. If it doesn’t, however, it goes to Philadelphia and the Lakers also forfeit their 2019 first-rounder to Orlando. That would be a crippling blow to a team that’s tired of rebuilding.
The Sacramento Kings received a top-three protected pick from the New Orleans Pelicans in the DeMarcus Cousins trade.