NBA Draft Lottery: Bulls still have minuscule chance at that Kings pick

The NBA Draft lottery is tonight. The Bulls were successful in their valiant attempt at home playoff gate revenue (3 games!) so they’re not in it.

Technically there’s still a chance for the Bulls to get that Kings pick. The Kings finished with the 8th-best lottery odds and their pick obligation to the Bulls is only if they pick 11th, but that still means that if three teams jump Sacramento into the top-3 that could happen.

It’s a sub-1% (actually, sub-0.01% ) chance. I think. It’d take the Mavericks (6.1%), Pelicans (4%), and Pistons (2.9%) getting top-3 selections. But remember, once the Bulls won the whole friggin’ thing with a 1.7% chance, guaranteeing 20 more summers of GarPax.

But (way) more than likely, the Kings keep their first rounder and the Bulls instead get their 2nd-rounder, which is locked in at 38th overall selection. Always remember: Luol Deng died (or was sent to Cleveland, which at the time was just as bad) so the Bulls could get under the luxury tax and use the savings to feel better about using amnesty on Boozer. If they prioritized player/pick return over immediate savings, would they have gotten a better draft obligation? Or maybe useable players so Thibs wouldn’t play 6 guys for the final months of the season and Joakim Noah doesn’t get his knees wrecked? We’ll never know! Besides, they sorted that all out by firing Thibs, which as we know solved all the Bulls problems and they’ve remained a championship-level organization.

So yeah, ultimately not much direct intrigue when it comes to the Bulls. But plenty of implications for the other teams around the league. If Boston wins, it gives them a trade piece that would be actually worth doing a Jimmy Butler deal for. It’d also be similar, if a bit less, good news for the Bulls if the Sixers or Lakers won. For added intrigue, the Lakers could really have a drastic swing between getting #1 or losing the pick (and 2019 pick!) instead.