Home Columns 2019 NBA Draft Lottery: Who will pick Zion Williamson?

2019 NBA Draft Lottery: Who will pick Zion Williamson?

The 2019 NBA Draft Lottery is set to take place this Tuesday in Chicago (14/05) and will determine which team will win the No.1 overall pick.

This year, the procedure has changed and the NBA has given a chance to more teams to fight for the No.1 spot.

The teams that finished with the three worst records in the regular season (the New York Knicks, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns) now have an equal percentage (14%) of selecting first in the NBA Draft, which will take place on June 20.

Concurrently, they have the same percentage of staying in the top four (12%).

At the same time, the fourth-worst and fifth-worst teams (the Chicago Bulls and the Atlanta Hawks) have seen their percentage to earn the number one pick raise to 12.5% (from 11.9%) and 10.5% (from 8.8%), respectively.

The worst team also has a 47.9% chance to fall to No. 5. Under the previous format, the lowest a team could fall was number four (35.7%).

Photo: Bleacher Report

That said, the question now is who will earn the number one pick, which will most likely be Zion Williamson.

Williamson is coming off an explosive season in the NCAA and whoever selects the power forward of Duke will make a game-changing move.

His talent and potential are so impressive that Williamson could completely change the franchise that would pick him.

Judging by the teams’ rosters and overall performance this season, though, it would be great for Williamson to be selected by the Phoenix Suns (in order to join the 2018 No. 1 pick DeAndre Ayton) or the Atlanta Hawks (in order to play alongside Trae Young and John Collins).

These would be two options that would let him fight for the playoffs from his rookie season. Two other players that are expected to be within the top four are Ja Morant of Murray State and RJ Barrett of Duke.

Both players played at very high standards in the NCAA this season and are the favourites to climb to the second and third place in the Draft.

Morant averaged 24.7 and 10 assists in the 2018/19 season, while Barrett averaged 22.6 points and 7.6 rebounds.

Twitter/NCAA March Madness
Photo: Twitter/NCAA March Madness

Still, with more than a month left until the NBA Draft, it is risky to make any prediction, since the odds change every week.

With that in mind, the latest NBA odds regarding the Draft lottery will be out soon, but expect the Knicks, the Cavs and the Suns to be the three teams that will select the top three picks in the 2019 NBA Draft.

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