The bad news keeps coming in the way of Minnesota’s timber wolves.
D’Angelo Russell will undergo surgery on his left knee and should four to six weeks to go, sources said Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
This news certainly affects the Warriors, who own the rights to Minnesota’s first three protected choices in 2021.
The T-Wolves (7-20) enter Tuesday’s match against the Los Angeles Lakers at the bottom of the NBA standings. And they will presumably be worse off with D-Lo away.
So if we assume two things – 1) the losses continue to pile up and 2) the T-Wolves end with the worst NBA record – the Warriors would enter the 2021 NBA Draft lottery with just under a 59.56 percent chance to have that value choice passed on to them this year:
-11.97 percent chance of getting the fourth overall choice
-47.86 percent chance of getting overall choice # 5
Remember that the Warriors – who boasted the league’s worst record last season – ended up with the second overall choice in the 2020 draft, which had a 13.42% chance of happening.
If that exact scenario happens again, the T-Wolves will keep the pick and all eyes will be on 2022 when the team is unprotected.
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Finally, let’s do another exercise in which we assume Minnesota leaves the basement and ends with the fourth worst record. If that happens, these are the lottery odds:
-No. 1 choice: 12.5 percent (T-Wolves keep)
-No. 2 choices: 12.23 percent (T-Wolves hold)
-No. 3 choices: 11.89 percent (T-Wolves keep)
-No. 4 choices: 11.46 percent
-No. 5 choices: 7.24 percent
-No. 6 choices: 25.74 percent
-No. 7 choices: 16.74 percent
-No. 8 choices: 2.19 percent
So in this scenario, the Golden State would have a 63.38 percent chance of getting the choice in 2021, and would land anywhere from No. 4 to No. 8.
No matter how you look at it, the Warriors (and everyone from Dub Nation) will be sweating on the lottery night and waiting for the ping pong balls to bounce in their favor.
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