A Thursday night meeting between the Phoenix Suns and Brooklyn Nets is a fabulous opportunity for one mightily struggling team to get a rare win but it also carries substantial weight for the May draft lottery.
The Suns (14-43) and Nets (15-52) are separated by one game for the NBA’s third- and fourth-worst records. Including Philadelphia (8-49), the Los Angeles Lakers (11-48) and Minnesota (18-40), there is a clear bottom five to the NBA.
The order of records is no assurance to the order of the draft with the league’s worst team only having a 25 percent chance at the top pick in the draft lottery.