Lakers.com
No. 2 to the Lakers (Press Release)
Things are looking up in Los Angeles.
It was quite a Tuesday night for the Lakers, who now hold the rights to the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft thanks to an improbable Draft Lottery in New York City, when L.A. was the only team to improve upon its chances when they swapped slots with the New York Knicks.
After finishing with the fourth-worst record in the NBA in 2014-15, L.A. was slotted to have the fourth-best odds, and the Knicks the second.
But selections 14 through five went chalk, each of the teams missing the 2015 playoffs staying in their allotted position.
Then, deputy commissioner Mark Tatum drew the Knicks placard, which Lakers fans knew meant they'd moved into the top three.
After an ESPN commercial break, Tatum drew the Sixers at No. 3, and then the Lakers at their No. 2 slot before revealing that the Timberwolves – owners of the league's worst record and thus the best chances – would draft first.
There was only a 12.6 percent chance that the Lakers would get the second pick, but team representative, coach and former Laker himself Byron Scott was more than happy to see his team grab the pick that will be L.A.'s highest since James Worthy went No. 1 in 1982.
There was a better chance that L.A. would lose its selection to Philadelphia (via Phoenix in the Steve Nash trade) by having two teams jump into the top three ahead of them, but it wasn't that kind of night for the Lakers.
L.A., in fact, has been in the lottery only four times in franchise history, resulting in the following haul: Eddie Jones (10th, 1994); Andrew Bynum (10th, 2005); Julius Randle (7th, 2014) and this year (rights to the 2nd pick).
Stay tuned for constant coverage of the potential lottery picks on Lakers.com all the way through June 25, the night of the NBA Draft, when L.A. also holds Houston's No. 1 pick (No. 27) and their own second rounder (No. 34).
Source: Lakers.com
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