A Royal Pain
Fansided

Sacramento Kings Dodged A Bullet For Not Winning The Lottery

By Rafe Wong

CHICAGO - MAY 15: NBA Deputy Commissioner, Mark Tatum awards the Sacramento Kings the number two pick in the 2018 NBA Draft during the 2018 NBA Draft Lottery at the Palmer House Hotel on May 15, 2018 in Chicago Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)
CHICAGO - MAY 15: NBA Deputy Commissioner, Mark Tatum awards the Sacramento Kings the number two pick in the 2018 NBA Draft during the 2018 NBA Draft Lottery at the Palmer House Hotel on May 15, 2018 in Chicago Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Sacramento Kings and Vlade Divac dodged a bullet last night when the results of the NBA Draft Lottery came out.

The NBA Draft Lottery ended last night and now everyone knows the order of the NBA Draft. However, where the ping pong balls landed last night did not really matter for the Sacramento Kings.

Due to the Kings still having to pay for their salary-dump trade with the Philadelphia 76ers back in 2015, the first-round pick that the Kings had this year was going to either belong to the Boston Celtics or 76ers.

If the Kings landed between picks two and 14 in the lottery, the pick would go to the Celtics. But if the Kings miraculously won the lottery, the pick would go to the Sixers.

Thank You, NBA Gods

Even though the Kings would leave the lottery with no first-round pick, Kings fans still wanted to see where their team would land. If the Kings (actually Celtics or Sixers) did end up making a jump into the top five, it makes the trade Vlade made with the Sixers even worse.

Luckily, the NBA Gods were on Sacramento’s side again. The lottery results showed that the Kings will remain at their projected spot which was the 14th pick which will go to the Celtics.

For a third straight year, the Kings have been blessed by the NBA Gods. In 2017, the Kings jumped to the fifth pick in the draft which got them De’Aaron Fox. In 2018, the Kings made a bigger jump to the second pick which ended up being Marvin Bagley III. Now, even though the Kings will not get a pick in the first round, they dodged a bullet as they will not have to give up a top pick to the Celtics.

It has been great that the Kings have had some luck with the lottery these past years, but let us hope that this is the end of it as they will be competing in the playoffs for the next years to come. 

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