NBA Draft Lottery 2018: Odds to Win No. 1 Pick and Teams That Need It the Most
Each team in NBA wants the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
While the player taken first in the 2018 NBA draft could turn a franchise around, there are a few teams that could not win next Tuesday's draft lottery and still turn out fine next season.
Most teams that fall into the category of needing the No. 1 pick had one of the worst records this season, but there are one or two teams with lower odds that could use the top pick as well.
Odds to Win No. 1 Pick (via NBA.com)
Phoenix Suns: 25%
Memphis Grizzlies: 19.9%
Dallas Mavericks: 12.9%
Atlanta Hawks: 12.8%
Orlando Magic: 10.7%
Sacramento Kings: 6.2%
Chicago Bulls: 4%
Cleveland Cavaliers (via Brooklyn): 2.5%
New York Knicks: 2.5%
Los Angeles Lakers: 1.1%
Charlotte Hornets: 0.8%
Detroit Pistons: 0.7%
Los Angeles Clippers: 0.6%
Denver Nuggets: 0.3%
NOTE: The Lakers pick goes to Boston if it ends up Nos. 2-5; otherwise it's conveyed to Philadelphia
Detroit's pick belongs to the Clippers if it falls outside of the top four.
Teams That Need No. 1 Pick Most
Phoenix Suns
No matter how much young talent is already on the Phoenix Suns roster, they still need help to dig out of the bottom of the Western Conference.
The Suns have a nice collection of pieces in place with Devin Booker, Dragan Bender, Josh Jackson and TJ Warren, but everything hasn't come together for them yet.
If Phoenix wins the draft lottery, the easy choice would be to select Arizona center Deandre Ayton to round out a starting lineup that should be able to challenge in most games next season.
The selection of Ayton makes even more sense with Alex Len hitting free agency following the expiration of his rookie deal.
Bringing in a dominant force like Ayton to work with first-year head coach Igor Kokoskov seems like an ideal move, as the Suns try to maximize their potential after collecting some of the best collegiate talents in recent years.
Although you could argue the Suns are still in decent shape if they can't pick Ayton, there isn't another player in the draft who fit exactly what they are looking for like the Arizona center does.
Memphis Grizzlies
An argument can be made that the Memphis Grizzlies need the No. 1 pick much more than the Suns, given the age of their stars.
With Marc Gasol and Mike Conley over 30 and Chandler Parsons getting close to 30, the Grizzlies need a transcendent young superstar to carry the franchise into the future.
Whether that player is Ayton or Slovenian guard Luka Doncic remains to be seen, Memphis is in desperate need of fresh blood.
Of the team's top six scorers this season, only one, Dillon Brooks, was under the age of 25, while 23-year-olds Andrew Harrison and Wayne Selden were seventh and eighth in points per game.
Earning the No. 1 overall pick would also allow the Grizzlies to try and reverse their poor recent draft history that includes taking Hasheem Thabeet over James Harden and Stephen Curry in 2009.
In addition to providing a jolt off the court, the No. 1 pick would improve a roster that needs plenty of work to get the team back to contending for a playoff position.
Orlando Magic
Orlando's roster could look completely different in a month, which means there's going to be more importance on taking the right player in the first round.
Aaron Afflalo, Marreese Speights and Mario Hezonja are unrestricted free agents, while Aaron Gordon is a restricted free agent.
If all four players leave the Magic, who will have a new head coach after the Frank Vogel firing, they'll be left with pieces that won't help the team get out of the Eastern Conference cellar.
Winning the lottery would be a great steal for the Magic, as it would allow them to select a centerpiece to build their roster around.
While you could argue one of the top five players in the draft would help the Magic right away, they need something to go right for them after trading away Victor Oladipo two years ago.
Given the need for a rebuild in Orlando, the first overall pick isn't going to change the fortune of the franchise right away, but it would be a nice step in the right direction after a disastrous season.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland doesn't need the No. 1 pick as much as the other teams involved in the lottery—or at least not yet.
With the LeBron James free-agency spectacle this summer, there's no guarantee the Cavaliers are going to have a superstar to build around next season.
After blowing up the roster at the trade deadline to get the team to work better around James, the Cavaliers are in good position to return to the NBA Finals, but it could be their last appearance in quite some time if James departs again.
Although the chances are slim that they'll win the draft lottery through Brooklyn's first-round pick that was acquired from Boston in the Kyrie Irving trade, the Cavaliers have gotten lucky before.
Cleveland owns the most No. 1 picks in NBA draft history with six, with three of them coming in the last seven years.
Of course, Anthony Bennett, Andrew Wiggins and Irving are no longer on the team, but fortune has at least favored the Cavaliers in the lottery process.
If they can get the No. 1 pick and keep James, the Cavaliers will challenge Boston and Philadelphia for years to come in the East.
At the bare minimum with the top pick, the Cavs would be able to replace James with another star talent to combine with Kevin Love and others, which would allow the franchise to rebuild the roster while still contending.
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