Opinion: Where Will The Sacramento Kings Land In the Lottery?
By Rafe Wong
It has been a while, but for most of the bottom half teams in the NBA, today is a big day for their franchises as the NBA Draft Lottery will happen tonight to determine the order for this year’s upcoming NBA Draft.
For the Sacramento Kings, this is familiar territory for them. The Kings have been “regulars” of the lottery for the last 10 years and today will be the 21st time the franchise will participate in the lottery since the team moved to Sacramento.
Based on their history, the lottery has not been kind to the Kings organization. There was the lottery of 1989, where the Kings struck gold with 1st overall pick, but other than that, the Kings have either stayed in their projected spots or have moved back in the draft a total of 19 times out of 20 appearances in this event (per Basketball RealGM).
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The Kings might be cursed when it comes to the draft lottery, and if that is the reality the purple and white may be in trouble of losing their pick for this forthcoming draft.
Why?
If the Kings do end up outside of the top 10 picks after the lottery results, they will have to give up their pick to the Chicago Bulls based on the guidelines of a trade the Kings made with the Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2011.
Express yourself
So Kings fans, what spot do you think the Kings will end up at when the draft lottery concludes tonight? Do you think they will stay around the 8-10 spot? Outside of the top 10? Or do you think they will hit the jackpot and be gifted with a top 3 pick? We would like to hear from you.
To express your opinions on the issue, feel free to participate in our survey that is currently up on our Twitter account.
Where do you think the Kings will end up after the lottery?
— A Royal Pain (@ARoyalPain) May 17, 2016
More from A Royal Pain
- 3 Ways Chris Duarte improves the Kings chances in 2023-24
- 5 Players the Sacramento Kings never should have signed
- Bleacher Report crazily lists Kings’ All-Star as “most overrated NBA player”
- Kings and Heat fans clash on Twitter to debate All-Star players
- Sacramento Kings’ Chris Duarte playing in 2023 FIBA World Cup
The NBA draft lottery will be televised on ESPN in New York City at 5:00 PM (Pacific Time). Sacramento’s most recent draft pick Willie Cauley-Stein will represent the Kings organization at the event.
Rafe’s Thoughts
To me, I think that the Kings will end up staying where they are, which is at the #8 spot once the lottery concludes. This means that their pick will stay with the Sacramento franchise.
History has shown that the lottery does not like the Kings very much, but this time around I think the lottery will show the Kings some mercy in rewarding them a chance to draft a Top 10 prospect this coming June.