Latest On NBA’s Lottery Standings, Draft Order
On Monday, we took an in-depth look at what we knew about the NBA’s 2021 draft lottery standings and projected draft order so far based on the regular season standings, and what was still to be determined based on play-in results, random tiebreakers, and the lottery results.
With the play-in tournament nearly over, we can fill in a few more gaps. Let’s dive in…
Lottery standings
Having been eliminated from playoff contention, the Pacers will be at No. 13 in the lottery standings, giving them a 1% chance at the first overall pick and a 4.8% shot at a top-five selection, per Tankathon.
A tiebreaker will be necessary to determine whether the Spurs or Hornets get the edge in the lottery standings, but they’ll occupy the Nos. 11 and 12 spots in the lottery standings. The winner of the tiebreaker – to be conducted next Tuesday – will have a slightly higher chance of earning the first overall pick (1.8% to 1.7%) and a top-four pick (8.5% to 8.0%).
The No. 14 spot in the lottery will be held by the loser of Friday’s Warriors/Grizzlies play-in game.
Draft order
Having clinched playoff spots, the Wizards and Celtics will draft 15th and 16th, respectively, in the first round.
The winner of tonight’s Warriors/Grizzlies play-in game will draft 17th, while the Lakers will be part of a Tuesday tiebreaker to determine their exact position — they could draft as high as 21st and as low as 23rd.
If the Lakers had missed the postseason, teams like the Heat, Knicks, and Hawks each would have been pushed down one spot in the draft. Since L.A. made it, those teams will stay put, starting with Miami at No. 18.
Notable traded second-round picks
On Monday, we focused on what would happen with 2021’s traded first-round picks. So many of this year’s second-round picks have been traded that we’re not going to run through all of them in this space (you can check our tracker for the full details), but here are a few notable second-round swaps worth flagging:
The Pacers traded their second-round pick to the Nets with 45-60 protection. Because Indiana’s second-rounder is going to land at No. 44, that pick will be sent to Brooklyn rather than being protected.
The Bulls, who will be involved in a first-round tiebreaker with the Pelicans (and Kings) to determine their spots in the lottery standings, also have the ability to swap second-round picks with New Orleans. In the event of a random tiebreaker, the second-round order is always the inverse of the first-round order — for instance, if Team A wins a first-round tiebreaker over Team B, then Team B would get the higher pick in the second round. But in this case, the Bulls could win the first-round tiebreaker, then use their second-round swap to make sure they pick ahead of the Pelicans in both rounds.
Because the Warriors‘ first-round pick will fall in the top 20, Golden State will keep it and will instead have to send the Timberwolves’ second-round pick to the Thunder to complete last year’s Kelly Oubre trade. That pick will be No. 36.
The Suns had agreed to send their second-round pick to the Grizzlies if it landed between 31-35 and to the Nets if it landed between 36-60. It’ll go to Brooklyn, since it’s the No. 59 overall selection. Memphis is simply out of luck, as Phoenix’s obligation to the Grizzlies is now extinguished.
The Bucks will get the first pick of the second round (No. 31), since the Rockets have the ability to swap their second-rounder for Milwaukee’s first-rounder (No. 24).
Other early second-round picks that will change hands include the Pistons‘ No. 32 pick (to the Knicks), the Cavaliers‘ pick at either No. 34 or 35 (to the Pelicans), and the Raptors‘ No. 37 pick (to the Pistons).
Bucks Ready For Heat This Year
- Ahead of their playoff rematch against the Heat, the Bucks claim to know Miami’s game plan this year, writes Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. A Miami club that upset then-top-seeded Milwaukee in the second round of the 2020 playoffs appears confident it can do so in the first ahead of a 3-6 first-round matchup.
Thanasis Antetokounmpo Out At Least Two Weeks With Leg Injury
The Bucks will be without forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo for at least the next two weeks due to a right leg injury he suffered during the regular season finale on Sunday, the club announced today in a press release.
After undergoing an MRI on Monday to assess the injury, Antetokounmpo was diagnosed with an avulsion fracture to the right patella tendon, the Bucks said in their statement. He’ll be re-evaluated in two weeks.
Antetokounmpo, the older brother of Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, wasn’t expected to play a major role for Milwaukee in the playoffs, so the injury shouldn’t have a real impact on the club’s rotation. Still, the 28-year-old did play a minor role for the Bucks this season, averaging 2.9 points and 2.2 rebounds per game in 57 contests (9.7 MPG).
Jrue Holiday Earns Another $255K Bonus
Another standout Eastern Conference guard, Jrue Holiday earned a third $255K bonus this week for appearing in at least 59 games averaging more than 3.15 rebounds, Marks notes. Having already earned $765K in incentives, Holiday could further increase that number if he’s named to an All-Defensive team ($100K), if the Bucks come out of the East ($200K), and/or if Milwaukee wins the title ($1MM).
Jrue Holiday Collects Another Bonus
- Bucks guard Jrue Holiday earned a $255K bonus by playing in his 58th game of the season Thursday night, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. Holiday secured another bonus earlier this week for total minutes played.
Bucks Officially Sign Elijah Bryant
After waiving Rodions Kurucs on Wednesday to create an open spot on their 15-man roster, the Bucks have filled that opening by signing guard Elijah Bryant, the team confirmed today in a press release. Bryant’s agreement with Milwaukee was reported last week.
Bryant, who went undrafted out of BYU in 2018, began his professional career with Hapoel Eliat and has remained in Israel since then, spending the last two seasons with Maccabi Tel Aviv. He earned a spot on the All-Israeli League First Team in 2019 and won an Israeli League championship in 2020.
Bryant averaged 9.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game in 34 EuroLeague contests (23.3 MPG) this season, shooting 44.0% from the field and 36.9% from deep. The 26-year-old, who played summer league ball with the Bucks in 2019, increased those averages to to 13.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 2.8 APG on .554/.420/.829 shooting in 18 Israeli League games (23.2 MPG).
The exact terms of Bryant’s new deal with the Bucks aren’t yet known, but a report last week indicated it would be a two-year contract. I wouldn’t expect next season’s salary to be fully guaranteed.
With the signing, the Bucks once again have a full 17-man roster (including two-way players). The regular season will end on Sunday, so this figures to be the group Milwaukee will take into the postseason.
Central Notes: Holiday, LaVine, Hartenstein, Pistons
The Defensive Player of the Year conversation this season has primarily revolved around candidates like Rudy Gobert and Ben Simmons, but Bucks guard Jrue Holiday believes he should be in that discussion. In fact, that’s an opinion he holds year in and year out, as he tells Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
“Man, I feel like I’m the Defensive Player of the Year every year,” Holiday said. “I’m not joking about that. And I know this is my opinion, and other people have different opinions and they’ll probably think I’m crazy. But I think what I bring defensively on the court, a lot of people don’t really do, to be completely honest.”
As Holiday points out, it’s rare for a guard to receive serious consideration for Defensive Player of the Year honors. The last time a backcourt player won the award was in 1996, when Gary Payton was named DPOY. But Holiday feels that his own performance and versatility on the defensive end of the court shouldn’t be overlooked.
“I think to be able to guard some of these guards night in and night out, every single night, and be able to move laterally, moving your feet, fighting over screens, fighting under screens, guarding them one-on-one 30 feet away from the basket,” Holiday told Haynes. “And there were a couple of years where I was blocking a lot of shots for a guard. So I even protected the rim myself. And then at that, I’m guarding positions one through four, and sometimes five. Defensively, I’ve pretty much done it all. That’s why I think I should be in the conversation every year.”
Here are a few more items from around the Central:
- While there has been a belief that Zach LaVine will look to maximize his earnings on his next contract, several sources who spoke to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times believe LaVine could be persuaded to take a slight discount if the Bulls continue adding quality players around him. Still, a standard extension for LaVine could only be worth up to about $105MM over four years, so he seems unlikely to accept such a deal — Chicago could offer him significantly more in a renegotiation or once he reaches free agency.
- Cavaliers big man Isaiah Hartenstein, who holds a minimum-salary player option for 2021/22, said he’d like to remain in Cleveland, but hinted that he’s leaning toward opting out in the hopes of signing a new deal. “So far everything has been good,” Hartenstein said of his time with the Cavs, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “Can’t really say what’s going to happen in the future, but I hope we can renegotiate something this summer and I can grow with the young guys. I think that would be a good experience.”
- In a mailbag for The Detroit News, Rod Beard says that he expects the Pistons to try to re-sign Frank Jackson in free agency, advocates for giving Sekou Doumbouya more time to develop, and addresses a few other Pistons-related topics.
Bucks Officially Waive Rodions Kurucs
The Bucks have formally requested waivers on forward Rodions Kurucs, the team announced today (via Twitter).
The move had been anticipated, since Milwaukee needed to release a player in order to make room on the 15-man roster for Elijah Bryant. The club hasn’t officially announced Bryant’s deal yet, but that figures to happen soon.
Kurucs, who was the 40th overall pick in the 2018 draft, spent two-plus seasons with Brooklyn before being dealt to Houston in the James Harden blockbuster earlier this year. The 23-year-old was later flipped to the Bucks along with P.J. Tucker.
Kurucs showed promise as a rookie in 2018/19, averaging 8.5 points and 3.9 rebounds in 63 games (20.5 MPG) for Brooklyn. However, he saw his role cut back in his second season as he dealt with legal issues stemming from an assault allegation, and he has barely played at all in 2020/21.
Across 21 games for three teams this season, the Latvian forward has put up 1.5 PPG and 1.1 RPG in 6.0 minutes per contest. He resolved his legal situation in March by pleading guilty to disorderly conduct.
Assuming he goes unclaimed, Kurucs will officially clear waivers on Friday. He could theoretically be signed by a new NBA team before the regular season ends on Sunday, but he wouldn’t be playoff-eligible.
Holiday Clinches Bonus; Bucks Increase Crowd Capacity
- The Bucks will be boosting their home court crowd capacity to 50% (approximately 9K fans) for the playoffs, per an official team announcement. Milwaukee is currently hosting roughly 3,300 fans (18% of the Fiserv Forum’s capacity).
- Bucks point guard Jrue Holiday has clinched a $255K minutes-played bonus after logging 1,823 minutes during the 2020/21 season, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. The 30-year-old has been a key contributor for a stellar Bucks season. Led by All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee is presently the No. 3 seed in the East with a 43-25 record.
Elijah Bryant Officially Parts Ways With Maccabi Tel Aviv
- Maccabi Tel Aviv issued a press release confirming that they’ve officially parted with Elijah Bryant, allowing him to pursue an NBA opportunity. Having left his team in Israel, Bryant is on track to sign with the Bucks.