Trail Blazers News: Portland Suffers Some Bad Luck Ahead Of Draft Lottery

They should still have multiple lottery picks, however...

Jun 22, 2023; Brooklyn, NY, USA; The 2023 NBA draft class poses for photos on stage. / Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Earlier today, the Portland Trail Blazers were dealt a slight blow to their hopes of nabbing the top pick in this summer's upcoming NBA draft.

According to The Athletic's Casey Hodahl, the Charlotte Hornets, who sported an identically miserable 21-61 record in the 2023-24 season, won their tiebreaker with Portland in a coin flip. That gives the Hornets a (very marginally) better 13.3% shot at moving up to nab the No. 1 pick in the draft, compared to the Trail Blazers' 13.2% odds.

Portland also possesses the Golden State Warriors' top-four protected lottery pick. Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report reveals that the Warriors also fell in their own coin flip with the Sacramento Kings closer to the bottom of the lottery (the No.s 13 and 14 picks). The Kings and Warriors both missed the playoffs after falling in the play-in tournament. Sporting 46-36 records, the Kings will now get a slightly better shot at moving into the lottery's top four.

The Trail Blazers could use all the help they could get. The team boasts plenty of intriguing young pieces (plus two tradable veteran contracts in ex-Boston Celtics Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams III), but no one has emerged as a clear-cut future All-Star. Maybe they'll find someone in June. But what matters is that they get as many shots at landing a future star, ideally on a rookie-scale contract, as possible.

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