The NBA Draft Lottery can be one of the most exciting – and stressful – days of the season. A random drawing of ping pong balls can have a massive impact on a team’s future, a fact that the Los Angeles Lakers are all too well aware of.
However, on May 17, 2016, the basketball gods smiled upon the Lakers and awarded them the second overall pick in the draft. It was a moment of relief for the Lakers, who had been in jeopardy of losing the pick altogether unless it landed in the top three.
As part of the ill-fated Steve Nash trade in 2012, the first-round pick that the Lakers owed the Phoenix Suns (which was later traded to the Philadelphia 76ers) would stay in the possession of the Lakers only if it fell in the top three.