Dallas Mavericks: NBA Draft Lottery Immediate Reaction

The NBA Draft Lottery was held tonight to determine the order of the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft. As it is always one of the craziest nights for the NBA, the build-up to the actual lotto balls being selected was lengthy and surprising.

If you are reading this then you already know that the Dallas Mavericks got screwed by the NBA for the millionth time. We are familiar with falling in the Draft Lottery and nothing has changed once again as Dallas will be selecting 5th overall in the 2018 NBA Draft.

Before we get into the stupidity of this, let’s get into the stupidity of the “Draft Lottery Show” that took place before the balls were drawn. It started with a chat between the commentator and DeAndre Ayton about what his drive is to be the best he can in the NBA. He talked about wanting to represent the Bahamas in the NBA which was a cool moment. Now he will have a real chance to play alongside another native of the Bahamas in Sacramento, Buddy Hield.

After talking with Ayton, they switched over to Jay Bilas who gave us his opinion on who the top 5 players in the draft are. Many probably agree with his number one overall, but after that things got a little interesting. Despite Bilas saying Marvin Bagley III was his #2 and Jaren Jackson Jr. was his #3, the show immediately launched into a tribute to Luka Doncic in a way.

It started with none other than Darko Milicic, the biggest European bust in history. After going through the history of the “soft European players” ESPN then honed in on the foreigners who finally broke the terrible stereotype. Guys like Nikola Jokic and Kristaps Porzingis…

Are they missing someone?

Yeah, it’s true. They gave no mention to Dirk Nowitzki as one of the European players that broke the mold. Despite the fact that he is the one who actually broke it. But it’s ok, I’m not bitter or anything.

After that the show went on with explanations of how the lottery works and then the host introduced all the representatives that were present for their respective teams. She stopped and chatted about each one, paying particular attention to the Cavs and Kings representatives. Then she got to the other half of the stage and stumbled through Michael Finley’s name before recovering.

But again, I’m not bitter.

Finally the lottery starts. Going in reverse order, the draft stayed true to the percentages from #14 all the way through #8. The Kings were the first team to jump into the top three from the 7th best odds. After that, the Hawks jumped from 4th to 3rd, pushing Dallas back to 5. The top 5 picks go to: Phoenix, Sacramento, Atlanta, Memphis, and Dallas.

To finish the show, ESPN paid tribute to the 2003 NBA Draft because of all the crazy similarities. By paying tribute, all they really did was show LeBron James being picked first overall and then saying, “Hey, this guy is playing in a few minutes, what a coincidence!”

Next: Three Things to Watch For in the Draft Lottery

That’s the end of my rant. I’m tired now. Hopefully the Mavs will do something great with this top five pick and will turn it into a key piece for the future. Despite my attitude, I like the team’s chances.