Tonight’s Wizards – Pistons matchup has implications for who ends up with the best odds at the No. 1 pick in 2024.
The Washington Wizards are 2-14. The Detroit Pistons are also 2-14. This means that tonight’s match between the two teams is a battle for the bottom.
It’s early in the season, so this may not seem very significant for their lottery odds, but more teams have struggled out of the gate than many predicted. Right now, five other teams within three games have the best odds at the No. 1 pick. The current NBA Draft Lottery odds smooth things out, so being the worst team no longer gives you a major advantage at the first pick. But it certainly doesn’t hurt either.
Below I’ve listed several major draft releases and which ones they currently rank in the top three just to use as a frame of reference for who the Wizards and Pistons are essentially competing for tonight.
Tankathon
1.) Ron Holland, 6’6 wing, G League Ignite
2.) Isaiah Collier, 6’3 guard, USC
3.) Alexandre Sarr, 7’0 tall, Perth (NBL)
USA today
1.) Holland
2.) Saarland
3.) Justin Edwards, 6-7 wing, Kentucky
Yahoo! Sports
1.) Necklace
2.) Saarland
3.) Ja’Kobe Walter, 6-5 wing, Baylor
Launderer’s Report
1.) Holland
2.) Nikola Topic, 6’6 guard/wing, KK Mega Bemax
3.) Necklace
Athleticism
1.) Saarland
2.) Necklace
3.) Holland
ESPN
1.) Holland
2.) Saarland
3.) Necklace
In all of these mock drafts, only six names total appear in the top three: Sarr, Edwards, Holland, Collier, Walter and Topic. We covered Sarr and Collier in detail in a recent episode of Bleav in Wizards and will cover the other four coming in the next week. If there are any other names you’d like a more detailed look at, let me know in the comments.
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