Raptors Pull Closer to Grizzlies In Pivotal Race to Bottom
The Memphis Grizzlies are now within striking distance.
Whether the Toronto Raptors care to admit it or not, tanking for the sixth-worst record is now very much a real possibility for the Raptors who sit just a game back of Memphis in the league’s reverse standings.
Two straight victories for the Grizzlies and a pair of losses for Toronto have pulled the Raptors to within a game of the sixth-worst record and a 46% chance of landing a top-six pick in this year’s draft.
The next 48 hours will be crucial for this race, if you can call it that. Memphis plays the Trae Young-less Atlanta Hawks on Friday night while Toronto heads to Portland to take on the league’s fifth-worst team on Saturday.
This is all particularly important because Toronto owes a top-six protected pick to the San Antonio Spurs as part of last season’s Jakob Poeltl trade. The Raptors would have just a 32% chance to keep that pick if they remain the seventh-worst team entering the NBA’s draft lottery. Those odds grow by nearly 14% if Toronto can slip below the Grizzlies.
It's worth keeping an eye on the Brooklyn Nets as well. While the Nets have no incentive to tank as they’ve traded away their first-round pick unprotected this year, they sit just two games behind Toronto with the eighth-worst record in the NBA. If they eclipse Toronto, the Raptors would have just a 26.3% chance to keep its pick.
If two teams finish the season with a tied record, a coin toss will break the tie regarding the teams' lottery odds.
