The only silver lining to putting up with a horrendous season is the chance (albeit not a good one) of winning the NBA lotto and getting first crack at a potentially dominant (and franchise changing) No. 1 overall pick. Guys like Tim Duncan, Shaq, LeBron, Allen Iverson, and a couple dozen others have been chosen with that pick in the efforts of turning their franchise(s) around (which was met with varying degrees of success). Tonight the Minnesota Timberwolves became the team that rewarded the patience of a fan base that put up with a mediocre-to-remarkably-crappy season is . From now until June 25th they're on the clock. It was the first time since 2004 that the worst team actually ended up with the top pick.
The rest of the order stacks up as follows:
2. Los Angeles Lakers (who had a top five protected pick)
3. Philadelphia 76ers
4. New York Knicks
5. Orlando Magic
6. Sacramento Kings
7. Denver Nuggets
8. Detroit Pistons
9. Charlotte Hornets
10. Miami Heat (which is the worst they could do considering they had a protected top 10 pick)
11. Indiana Pacers
12. Utah Jazz
13. Phoenix Suns
14. Oklahoma City Thunder
Feel free to generate conspiracy theories or feel great/sorry for yourself by contrasting that order with each franchise's odds beforehand:
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