NBA Draft Lottery: Which Prospect Should Each Team Pick with No. 1 Selection?
The NBA Draft Lottery is quickly approaching which means that the nation is going to be more focused than ever on ping pong balls. When the machine churns out one ball with one name on it, we'll finally know who has the No. 1 pick.
Minnesota has the best chance at landing that top overall pick, followed closely by Cleveland and Toronto. Washington, Sacramento and Utah all have slight chances, but the rest of the 14 lottery teams are only hoping that they get as lucky as someone who, well, wins the lottery.
So, let's take a brief look at who each lottery team would select if they landed that top pick.
Minnesota Timberwolves (25.0% Chance): Kyrie Irving
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The Minnesota Timberwolves have a distinct advantage in the upcoming NBA Draft Lottery as one out of every four ping pong balls in play will be one that could give them the No. 1 overall pick.
If they end up with the first selection, they shouldn't hesitate before making Kyrie Irving the first player drafted. The Duke point guard is a very talented basketball player and fits with the Timberwolves much better than either Derrick Williams or Enes Kanter.
Drafting Williams would essentially be like giving up on last year's No. 4 overall draft pick, Wesley Johnson. Besides the former Syracuse player, the Timberwolves also have Kevin Love and Michael Beasley at forward.
I'd rather replace Jonny Flynn with Irving than any of the aforementioned forwards with Williams.
Cleveland Cavaliers (19.9% Chance and 2.8% Chance): Derrick Williams
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The Cleveland Cavaliers have two lottery selections in this year's draft, their own pick, which has a 19.9 percent chance of being No. 1, and the Los Angeles Clippers' first round pick, which has a 2.8 percent chance of being No. 1.
If either chance is a success, the Cavaliers should take Arizona small forward Derrick Williams with the first pick.
Kyrie Irving has a better chance of being a superstar and face of the franchise than Williams does, and that is something that the LeBron James-less Cavaliers desperately need. But that said, Baron Davis and Daniel Gibson are both already on the roster, which is completely devoid of small forwards.
Literally, there is not a single player on the Cavs roster that is listed as a small forward. Talk about taking one of the best available players and filling a need.
Toronto Raptors (15.6% Chance): Kyrie Irving
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The Toronto Raptors really don't have many good players on their roster at all as holes litter the team.
Unfortunately, there is no singular player who Toronto can draft as a cure-all for its ails. Because of that, they'll have to pick one position and make it better.
Small forward and point guard are both needs, so that means that the Raptors should just select the best player available. In my opinion, that player is none other than Duke point guard Kyrie Irving.
Washington Wizards (11.9% Chance): Derrick Williams
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This may be the single easiest choice of all.
If the Washington Wizards win the lottery and are awarded the No. 1 pick in the draft, David Stern will essentially be able to announce the pick before Washington even clues him in.
Derrick Williams would become a Wizard because there's no way that Washington would dare bring in another point guard with John Wall already running the show.
That's really all there is to it.
Sacramento Kings (8.8% Chance): Derrick WIlliams
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This is another situation where the team in question already has a franchise player at the point guard spot.
With this team, the Sacramento Kings, that player is Tyreke Evans. Evans has yet to fully blossom and there's no way that Sacramento would want to hinder his development by bringing in Kyrie Irving.
On the other hand, Omri Casspi and Donte Greene are the two small forwards, and, while both are talented, neither are standouts. Derrick Williams on the other hand could be a standout at the position as soon as his rookie season rolls around.
Utah Jazz (6.3% Chance and 0.7% Chance): Derrick Williams
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The Utah Jazz have two different shots at the No. 1 overall pick, but neither of them really inspire much hope in the eyes of the Jazz faithful.
If the Jazz somehow end up with that first pick though, they'll have to decide which player needs to be replaced more. The options are as follows.
Utah could choose to draft Kyrie Irving and let him develop on the bench behind Devin Harris, or it could take Arizona small forward Derrick Williams and see how he stacks up against Andrei Kirilenko, C.J. Miles and Jeremy Evans.
Personally, I'd rather go with the latter option and leave Devin Harris in the starting lineup for quite some time.
Detroit Pistons (4.3% Chance): Enes Kanter
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The Detroit Pistons struggled throughout the entirety of the 2010-2011 season and now they're rewarded, if you can call it that, with a 4.3 percent chance at the first pick in the 2011 NBA draft. But whether or not they get the first pick is rather irrelevant since they're the only lottery team that has no need for the No. 1 or No. 2 pick.
Even if the Pistons wind up with the No. 3 pick in the draft, they should still select Turkish center Enes Kanter. Ben Wallace is now 36 years old and his time in the NBA is drawing to a close, meaning that Detroit needs to find a new center.
At point guard and small forward, the Pistons are already set with Rodney Stuckey running the show and the combination of elderly Tayshaun Prince and youthful Austin Daye playing the three-spot.
Charlotte Bobcats (1.7% Chance): Derrick Williams
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The Charlotte Bobcats roster is absolutely terrible right now, and the only potentially great player they currently have is point guard D.J. Augustin.
It would make absolutely no sense to bring in Kyrie Irving. Would he be better than Augustin from the get-go? Absolutely.
But the improvement that Derrick Williams would usher in at forward far outweighs Irving's potential impact. For that reason and that reason alone, Cleveland should take the former Arizona Wildcat.
Milwaukee Bucks (1.1% Chance): Trade Down
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Point guard?
Brandon Jennings is the guy you want there for quite some time, strange hairstyles and all.
Small forward?
Chris Douglas-Roberts (assuming he stays in free agency), Luc Richard Mbah a Mute, Carlos Delfino and Corey Maggette may not be stars, but what they lack in quality they make up for in quantity.
Center?
Well, that slot is taken up by the oft-injured Australian named Andrew Bogut, who is quite good when he's actually on the court.
That doesn't leave many options other than trading down because no other player in the draft besides Derrick Williams, Kyrie Irving or Enes Kanter is worth No. 1 pick money.
Golden State Warriors (0.8% Chance): Derrick Williams
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Something tells me that neither the Golden State Warriors nor the other two teams remaining in this slideshow will be picking at No. 1, but let's keep going for fun with this hypothetical.
With David Lee manning center and Stephen Curry running the point with Monta Ellis occasionally taking over the show, Derrick Williams is the only logical choice for the Warriors.
It's only fitting that Williams' biggest weakness is his lack of defensive prowess.
Phoenix Suns (0.6% Chance): Derrick Williams
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Steve Nash still plays in Phoenix.
Enough said.
Derrick Williams it is.
Houston Rockets (0.5% Chance): Kyrie Irving
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The world would probably come to an end if the Houston Rockets somehow lucked their way into the No. 1 overall pick of the 2011 NBA draft.
But assuming that it didn't, which is a huge assumption, the already talent-laden Rockets wouldn't think twice before drafting Kyrie Irving.
Irving would be an upgrade over Kyle Lowery even though Lowery is a very good point guard already. The Duke guard is still the best talent in the draft, although it's close.
Derrick Williams and Enes Kanter, as you know by now, are the other two options, but neither is a very good fit with the Rockets.
Sure, Houston may need a center if Yao Ming departs in free agency, but they aren't going to risk the top pick in the draft on a center with bad knees after the injury mishaps they had to deal with in the form of Yao Ming's feet.
