The NBA previously announced slight changes to its 2020 lottery, with the eight teams left out of the summer restart claiming the top eight spots in the lottery standings based on their records as of March 11 — even if they didn’t have the league’s eight worst records by the time the summer’s seeding games ended this month.
According to Jeremy Woo of SI.com (Twitter link), the league is also tweaking the way the second-round order is determined this season, with picks 31 through 44 assigned to the lottery teams based on their March 11 winning percentages and the remaining picks assigned to the playoff clubs based on their end-of-season records.
As Woo notes (via Twitter), winning percentage would normally dictate the second-round order regardless of whether or not a team made the playoffs. For example, the Magic – who made the playoffs despite finishing behind the Grizzlies and Suns in the overall NBA standings – will get the No. 45 pick this year rather than the No. 43 pick they’d typically receive.
We’ll be publishing the full pre-lottery 2020 draft order this week after the NBA announces its tiebreaker results.
Here’s more on the 2020 NBA draft:
- Leandro Bolmaro, a guard/forward from Argentina, remains in the 2020 draft pool as an early entrant and ranks 23rd overall on ESPN’s big board. He recently agreed to a new three-year contract with Barcelona, according to the team, but ESPN’s Jonathan Givony suggests (via Twitter) that the deal has NBA outs with an affordable buyout number. The flexibility to potentially stash Bolmaro overseas after drafting him could appeal to some NBA teams, Givony notes.
- If the Wizards get lucky and win the 2020 draft lottery, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington believes their choice would come down to Anthony Edwards and James Wiseman. As Hughes observes, Edwards would fit well on the wing alongside Washington’s star guards, while Wiseman’s strengths – rim protecting and rebounding – match the team’s biggest weaknesses.
- Sam Vecenie of The Athletic polled a series of college coaches about Isaac Okoro‘s NBA upside and received mixed reviews on whether the Auburn forward will be a quality top-five pick. One coach said that Okoro “might have been my favorite guy in the SEC in terms of feeling most confident on his projection,” while another said he views Alabama’s Kira Lewis as a better draft prospect.
Wizards would not pass on Wiseman. He would be perfect n best pick for them. They still will get quality player top 8.
Kyra Lewis will take 3 yrs to show. He is 160 LBs now. Okoro is NBA ready now. He could be best player in draft. His offense is still developing. Best 2way player in draft. Reminds me of Butler.