This is a day to celebrate in Motown. Although they won the first prize, they probably won't be the only winners in this lottery. Of course, from the current point of view, Detroit Pistons is still the biggest winner.
This season is the first season of Pistons General Manager Troy's exultation. During his tenure, he did a lot of work for the team. First he won the young Jeremy Grant, and then he won Hayes, Stewart and Sadik Bey in the draft. Among these three people, two have entered the first and second teams of the best rookie respectively, which also proves Troy Viiv's excellent vision in team building.
Now that the team has won the top draft, Troyview has a better chance to join the Pistons. Maybe they themselves will be surprised by the final draft, but now the result is like this. If nothing happens, they will probably choose Cade Cunningham as we thought.
This tall defender, if he can join the Pistons, will definitely gain an absolute core position in this team. He can try free throws, outside three-pointers and some difficult shots in any defensive situation.
Judging from his previous performance, we believe that his presence will add a fairly safe core option for the future reconstruction of Detroit Pistons.
We hope that the Pistons will try their best to hit the playoff places next season, which will probably help them see the reconstruction effect faster, and at the same time, let them expose some shortcomings still existing in the team and at least give them time to adjust and strengthen.
The winner of the second place is from the Toronto Raptors. Like the Cavaliers, they had a 2/3 chance to get the seventh place, but in the end they only seized an 8% chance to get the fourth place.
Of course, considering that the Raptors were away for almost the whole season because of the epidemic last season, this is probably God's retribution for them.
Considering that the team's core defender Lori is about to enter the free agent market, and the contract of Ugeri, the core figure of their basketball operation, is about to expire, this excellent lottery result is likely to bring a glimmer of light to the team's current unfavorable environment.
Aside from the disappointment that the Raptors failed to make the playoffs last season, let's look back at their 19 season. The Raptors won 52 games and became the second seed team in the East. If they can keep Lori and exchange the No.4 sign for a good young man, then this team is still very talented.
However, if the team finally loses Lori, then the Raptors had better make good use of their No.4 signings, and they must choose a new player with core strength. His appearance can still form another group of cores of the Raptors' new era together with Anunobi, Van Fries and Siakam.
The third winner is the Houston Rockets. Different from other teams' draft, the result of the Rockets' draft largely determines their success in the next few seasons. If their lottery results finally fall out of the top four, they can only get Thunder's 18, but now all the guesses are gone.
At least the lottery results can reassure Houston Rockets fans for a while. They don't have to exchange draft picks with thunder. After almost the worst season in Houston's history, they can at least get something to bring them back.
Although it was hard for them to get Cunningham, there were still excellent players like Mobry, Saxophone and Green. Judging from their previous performances, these people are likely to grow into all-star players in the future.
Judging from the current lineup of the Rockets, they still have some good young resources. As an excellent player like christian wood, his future potential is still worth our expectation. It's just that for the Rockets, what they need is a core cornerstone player who can build a team around him. This issue was finally given to their draft vision.
There are winners and losers. It is no exaggeration to say that Thunder lost the most thoroughly in this draft.
Presty's operation has always impressed us. He has been careful to get more draft picks in every transaction. The ultimate goal is to get a higher draft pick and win those outstanding young people, but unfortunately, the reality is just the opposite of his idea.
They have two chances to enter the top five. One is owned by Thunder, which has a 53% chance of winning the top five, and the other is owned by Houston Rockets, which is a protected first-round swap, but Thunder only got the sixth place in the end. On the contrary, the rocket won the second place. Under such circumstances, Thunder has no chance to exchange.
Judging from the strength of players in this year's draft, the top five players will exist at a higher level, and the sixth place will be a disappointing result for them. Unless the top five teams have any unexpected operations, it is difficult for Thunder to get these higher-level players.
The second loser is the Minnesota Timberwolves, but compared with the Thunder, their disappointment may not be too great. This draft result has some comfort for the team.
Their draft pick this season has been given to the Warriors. The Timberwolves owe the Golden State Warriors a first-round draft pick. This year, they are protected by the top three. If the Timberwolves finally choose the top three, then their first round draft pick next year will be given to the Warriors for free.
But in the end, they won the seventh place. Although the results are somewhat unsatisfactory, at least they have avoided the problem of adversely affecting the team in the future. They will not face the problem of paying the Warriors' draft pick next season.
Judging from the state of next season, the Timberwolves should perform better than this season. They fired team coach Saunders in the middle of last season and hired Chris Finch as the team's coaching task.
Judging from the overall performance of the team, at least the new Chris Finch has produced some good results for their team. Like anthony edwards, the No.1 scholar, we can clearly feel his cohesion when playing with Downs and Russell on the court.
Just for this team, they still have a long way to go in the future, and they need to continue to supplement the strength of the team in the follow-up opportunities.
Judging from the current performance, the draft is the best way for them to work together. It's just that the current Timberwolves don't have many valuable draft picks and can only make some changes internally. We hope they can establish a winning culture as soon as possible next season. After all, Russell's contract ended in 2023 and Downs became a free agent in 2024. They don't have much time to waste their core players.
Finally, there is our number one scholar Lang. There is no doubt that this position will go to Cade Cunningham.
If he can really become the No.1 scholar in the end, he will become a member of the Pistons in the new season. For other teams participating in the draft, the Pistons are not the worst team. The new general manager made some very effective changes to this team in a short time. The contract between coach Zhu and Kathy was also extended in May this year. Compared with other teams that have suffered misfortune, the management of Pistons is relatively stable. If the running-in between the top scholar and this team is effective, then they will be competitive next season.
What tasks does Cunningham need to do after joining this team?
First of all, this team will be a good development opportunity for him. This season, the Pistons' offense ranks fourth from the bottom in the league, and their three-point shooting percentage and shooting percentage are tenth from the bottom in the league.
In this case, the team lacks a stable scoring player. From the perspective of other players, they don't need to see that you have to bring them too much organizational ability. Therefore, after the champion comes, he still needs to rely more on his personal ability to create scores, which is a good thing to release his talent.
But at the same time, the lack of some effective helpers around him may not be good for his growth. He can only make adjustments in this team by himself.
Generally speaking, whether his future is good or bad is almost in his own hands. We look forward to leading Motown back to the peak under his leadership in the future.