The San Antonio Spurs have not selected in the lottery since the 1997 NBA Draft, taking Tim Duncan at No. 1 overall. 21 consecutive playoff appearances and five championships later, it placed the Spurs near or at the bottom of the first round. That included picking at No. 29 in the 2016 and 2017 NBA Drafts.
The Los Angeles Lakers had picks 2 and 27 — the latter via a draft-day trade with the Brooklyn Nets; it was used on Utah’s Kyle Kuzma, who in any other season that did not feature Donovan Mitchell, Ben Simmons and Jayson Tatum, would be a candidate for NBA Rookie of the Year.