The Milwaukee Bucks are looking to secure a big win tonight in Toronto to take a potential 2-0 series lead in their first-round playoff series versus the Raptors. Should they win it’ll be Milwaukee’s second victory today.
Having finished with an identical 42-40 record as division rival Indiana Pacers this season, the Bucks won their tiebreak during a live broadcast put on by the NBA. Six ping pong balls— three for each team— were placed in a hopper with the winner being determined when their ball was removed from the lottery machine. Truly riveting television.
The Bucks will now draft 17th overall, while the Pacers will draft at number 18. DraftExpress lists Wake Forest power forward John Collins as their 17th ranked prospect in the NBA Draft, while Creighton centre Justin Patton is ranked 18th.
The Raptors had plenty at stake today, too, finishing the season at 51-31 and in a four-way tie with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz.
The Clippers won the tiebreak to select 23rd overall, but that pick actually belongs to the Raptors as part of the Greivis Vasquez trade. The Raps also own the 25th overall pick, but will send the pick to Orlando as part of the Terrence Ross deal. So, to sum it up, the Raptors will draft 23rd this season. Louisville shooting guard Donovan Mitchell is DraftExpress’s 23rd-ranked player.
[relatedlinks]
Three more tiebreaks were determined on Tuesday.
The 43-39 Hawks won theirs versus the Memphis Grizzlies, and will select 19th while Memphis finishes at number 20. That pick belongs to the Portland TrailBlazers, as part of the Jusuf Nurkic deal from February. UCLA freshman centre Ike Anibogue is ranked at 19, while German big man Isaiah Hartenstein is 20th.
Next up, the 41-41 Bulls and TrailBlazers went head-to-head with their draft placement on the line. Portland won and will now select 15th while Chicago will draft at number 16. Indiana sophomore OG Anunoby is ranked at 15 by DraftExpress with American-born shooting guard Terrence Ferguson (who spent the season playing overseas a la Brandon Jennings) one spot behind.
But the matchup everybody had been waiting for was between the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks, two lottery-bound teams whose tiebreak determined which team will have better odds at landing the first overall pick at June’s draft. The Timberwolves won the tiebreak and will now have the 6th best odds (53 out of 1000 chance) to win the actual draft lottery, which takes place on May 16th.
Washington’s Markelle Fultz is the top-ranked player headed into the draft, with UCLA point guard Lonzo Ball and Kansas wing Josh Jackson rounding out the top three.
The NBA draft takes place on June 22nd.
