NBA Draft Lottery Tuesday night, Wyc Grousbeck to represent Celts

This Tuesday night we get to find out exactly where the 2017 Brooklyn Nets pick falls in the lottery.


The pick, controlled by the Boston Celtics via a swap clause created as part of the deal that sent Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Jason Terry to the Nets in 2013, has the best odds of landing a number-one pick, but could fall as low as fourth if the worst-case scenario plays out. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the process, the order of the draft lottery is determined through a process where teams with the worst record receive 250 ping-pong balls, the next worst 199, the following worst 156, and so on in a decreasing rate until all 14 teams in the lottery have been allotted 1,000 ping-pong balls, from which the order is then selected randomly.


This means, for example, that the team with the worst record in the league - in this case, that of the Nets' - have a 25 % chance of getting the first pick, a 21.5% chance for second, 17.8% odds for the third picks, and a 35.7% chance of picking fourth (for detailed lottery odds, check the above graphic, courtesy of Wikipedia). Teams select a representative to be the "face" of a team for when results are revealed, and in the case of the Nets pick, Boston has elected to send owner Wyc Grousbeck to represent the team. While it might be frustrating if the pick falls to the fourth slot, Celtics fans can rest assured it can fall no lower than that pick, and has better odds to fall in one of the top three slots overall. Where it ends up in the selection order will likely dictate whether the Celts end up selecting, trading, or trading down with the pick they are allotted. So, cross your fingers - we're less than a week away from some of the most important news of the year for the Celtics - if not the decade.


For more stories about the Draft Lottery on CelticsLife, click here. For more by Justin, click here.



Photo via Boston.com
Follow Justin at @justinquinnn
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