Brooklyn remains in play for a high draft spot, but are they a lock for No. 1? Especially after beating Washington?
Consider the Brooklyn Nets' Sunday 121-115 win over the Washington Wizards a blessing and curse.
More so on the NBA Draft side of things.
Brooklyn avoided defeat, which lands as an Easter Sunday blessing for the franchise. However, its victory does alter the Nets' chances of landing at No. 1...but also inside the top three of the draft lottery.
Erik Slater of ClutchPoints broke down the new scenario that impacts Brooklyn following its win over the Wizards.
"Sunday's win dropped the Nets to third place in the lottery standings. The bottom three lottery slots all have equal chances of landing the No. 1 pick (14.0 percent) or in the top four (52.1 percent). However, with the NBA's easiest remaining schedule, Brooklyn's ability to remain in the top three is in doubt," Slater said.
Unfortunately the last part will likely make a population of Nets fans cringe a little. This means the chances at landing No. 1 and taking AJ Dybantsa of BYU are getting slimmer.
"After Sunday, the Nets have one more win than the Indiana Pacers in second and two fewer than the Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz, who are tied for fourth," Slater adds.
Does the remaining schedule lighten up on the side of the Nets?
"Brooklyn's remaining schedule features a pair of matchups with the Milwaukee Bucks and meetings with the Pacers and Toronto Raptors," Slater said.
The Nets insider then revealed a "magic number" for their lottery odds moving forward.
"The Nets' magic number to clinch top three lottery odds is three. If they lose three of their remaining four games, they'll guarantee themselves a bottom-three finish. If they go 2-2, they'll need the Kings and Jazz to win one of their remaining games," Slater stated. "If the Nets finish tied with one or more teams, all their draft lottery combinations (1,000 possible four-number combinations) are merged, then split evenly. If the number of combinations cannot be split evenly, a coin flip is used to decide which team receives the remaining combination(s)."
Sacramento has the harder schedule compared to Brooklyn by facing the Golden State Warriors twice and the Portland Trail Blazers. Both Western Conference teams are still vying for a playoff spot even if it means play-in tournament.
Utah still has the New Orleans Pelicans (the Atlanta Hawks own the rights of their first round selection). Then closes with the Memphis Grizzlies and playoff-bound Los Angeles Lakers.
For what it's worth, the Nets may have to accept the fact they won't get the top pick. Arkansas sharpshooter Darius Acuff is now projected to land to the Nets at No. 3.
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