The Sixer Sense
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Lakers NBA Draft pick key to Philadelphia 76ers 2018-2019 season

By Bret Stuter

(Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)
(Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 16: Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers and Joel Embiid
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 16: Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers and Joel Embiid /

Lakers pick: who gets it?

But another team will likely not be so lucky. The Los Angeles Lakers, currently owners of a 10-16 record, will be hard pressed to get to post season discussions in the loaded Western Conference.  So they have the 2018 NBA Draft to look forward to. Or would have, if not for an almost probability-defying streak of three consecutive number two picks in the NBA Draft, all the while the slip out of the top tier picks meant conveying that pick to the patiently-waiting Philadelphia 76ers.

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    • There is no wait this season.  There is no protection to save the Lakers first round pick. It will convey. The last question remaining: to which team?  Well, tied for 23rd place in the NBA means they have a mere 7.2 percent chance of selecting from two or three. That means the Philadelphia 76ers sit on a 92.8 percent chance of getting that pick, and a remote 2.8 percent chance of selecting first.

    NBA Lottery rules favors 76ers

    While the season remains rather fresh, there is plenty of wiggle room for the Lakers pick.  But let’s discuss the NBA Lottery and the Lakers final standing in the NBA.  The Boston Celtics own the Lakers pick between picks two-five.  If the Lakers finish 30th to 27th in the league, their pick has a probability of conveying to Boston at each selection. But at 26th in the league, the Lakers will no longer have a chance at the fourth pick in the draft.  At 27th in the league, the Lakers no longer have a chance at either the fourth or fifth pick in the NBA Draft.

    As the Lakers improve in the standings, the risk of their pick landing in Boston’s hands diminish. On one hand, that’s great for the 76ers.  On the other hand, the landing spot of that selection falls as well.  Currently tied for 23rd spot in the NBA, the Lakers pick is only 7.2 percent likely to become a Boston Celtics selection.  Still, if it does, the best it can do (below a top pick) is to land as the eighth pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.  So there is a trade off.