Two NBA Franchises Hang In The Balance Before Draft Lottery

The NBA Draft Lottery is Tuesday night, and until the draft order has been settled, some teams aren't sure whether they should prepare themselves to have a lottery selection this year, or not.

Let's start with the Chicago Bulls, currently slated to select 11th. If they remain outside the top four - which seems likely, as they only have an 8.5% chance to jump up - their pick is relinquished to the Orlando Magic as part of the 2021 trade deadline deal that sent Nikola Vučević to the Windy City.

The deal has been nothing short of a disaster for Chicago, as they already parted with Wendell Carter Jr, and the 8th overall selection in 2021 at the time - which turned into Franz Wagner. Chicago has made the playoffs once since that trade, culminating in one lone victory.

Adding insult to injury, Vučević is an unrestricted free agent this summer, and could leave the Bulls. If so, Chicago would have spent two lottery selections, and a former lottery pick in Carter Jr, for two and half years of Vučević, who failed to even make an All-Star game in the process.

Should the Bulls surprisingly jump up, and into the top four, they will owe Orlando a top three protected pick next year, in 2024.

So, how important is it for the Bulls to jump up? It literally could change the entire direction of the franchise, and that's without taking into account where they even land in the top four. By just getting an upgrade who might be good enough to help turn them into a playoff team next year, the Bulls would see a lower selection, in a worse draft, go the way of Orlando.

Instead, however, the Bulls are likely going to fork over a quality lottery selection in what looks like a generational draft, further cementing their status as a team that is headed absolutely nowhere.

The Bulls, however, aren't the only ones with their future on the line. Enter the Dallas Mavericks, a team that must be sitting on pins and needles as the lottery approaches.

After the arrival of superstar Luka Dončić, the Mavericks decided they needed to provide him with a secondary star, which to their credit was an accurate assessment.

That led to them trading for Kristaps Porziņģis in 2019, forking over former top ten selection Dennis Smith Jr, a 2021 first-round pick that turned into Keon Johnson, and now the most important bit of the trade: A top ten protected 2023 pick, which is currently slated to land at exactly that number 10 slot.

Porziņģis is no longer a Maverick. He got moved to Washington during the 2022 trade deadline. Yet, the Mavericks are still paying for that trade.

If a team jumps the Mavericks, they fall to 11th, and are thus forced to hand the Knicks their pick. Dallas either needs to stay at 10, or be the team that jumps, for them to keep the selection.

Should they be able to do so, they'll instead have two more years of top ten protection on the pick they owe the Knicks, and if the selection hasn't been conveyed by 2025, Dallas will instead send a 2025 second-rounder.

With Dallas in a state of flux, and with the future of Dončić in Texas having never been more uncertain, the Mavericks are in dire need of this selection, as to offer Dončić some immediate talent.

If they lose this year's pick - especially in a draft this loaded - it'll be the rotten cherry on the melted sundae that's been their season. They'll then go into a summer where both Kyrie Irving and Christian Wood, their second and third best players respectively, are unrestricted free agents. Reports have already surfaced that Wood is not returning to the organization.

As such, the Bulls and Mavericks head into tomorrow's draft lottery with crossed fingers. Both of their organizational directions could be heavily affected by what transpires in a little over 24 hours.

Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.

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