It might not feel like it, but last night's lottery results were kind to the Cs


While it might not feel like it, the Boston Celtics did alright in last night's lottery draft, in no small part because of an assist by the Sacramento Kings.

Hold on, you say -- didn't they louse up our victory lap over the Philadelphia 76ers by being so much better than expected this season? Well, yes, but they also could have had the luck to "land" the #1 overall pick, which would have handed it to those Joel Embiid-led Pennsylvanians (should we re-name the state "Processylvania?).


That did not happen, in much the way the series win that would have sent Philly to the Eastern Conference Finals did not, brutally lampooned in the tweet below by the Kangs, who I cannot help but love for bothering to make this video just  to drag those guys while they're down.

Sure, it's a little harsh, but if we can deal with Giannis Antetokounmpo (correctly) calling out the Cs on their consistency and its likely impact on that  series, they can deal with this (hilarious) dig, too.

But I digress.

As I noted in yesterday's draft lottery primer, the most likely (if not best) outcome is the one we got - namely the 14th overall pick from Sac-Town along with the already-confirmed 20th (via the Los Angeles Clippers) and 22nd (our own) first round picks.

It would of course have been nice to have landed a top-four pick (we JUST missed one, it seems), but we should be happy we did NOT get the Memphis Grizzlies' first, protected 1-8. NOT getting the pick is actually good because it holds the possibility of conveying seventh or higher next year, or as high as #1 overall the season after, when it becomes unprotected.

Speaking of the Kings, we ought to be trying awfully hard to move the asset this summer, before the Griz draft the pick they landed -- second overall -- which might actually turn out to make them good enough to put a Sacto-sized dent in its value should Ja Morant (or whoever they pick) be ahead of the curve for most young talent.

The fact that the New Orleans Pelicans got the top pick with the Griz taking out the second takes some of the sting out of the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers each landing a top-four pick (if we HAD to have them in this range, better they are far enough down the food chain to be incapable of reaching the two consensus best players in a draft framed as only that deep in terms of likely star talent).

I won't speculate as to whether they still might have the goods David Griffin wants to pair with Zion Williamson, as only he can answer that (well, he and maybe Gayle Benson, anyway), but it's certainly a little rougher given the only thing that would definitely preclude Boston from being able to add the best asset is already in Griff's clutches.

There's plenty of time and ink to spill on what might become of these picks (and competing offers), so I won't sully your eyes just yet, but expect a full slate of summer readings on draft prospects we'll probably never sign, and trade proposals that will probably never turn into reality.



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Image:DiNuzzo/AP; video: Boston Celtics, Tomasz Kordylewski
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