NBA Click & Roll: Pelicans weren't the only draft lottery winner

Welcome to Paste BN Sports' NBA Click & Roll newsletter.

This is where we bring you exclusive content from the Paste BN NBA staff. Plus, we catch you up on the biggest moments, quotes and NBA news you may have missed this week.

THE *REAL* DRAFT LOTTERY WINNER

Paste BN Sports' Jeff Zillgitt explains why the Pelicans weren't the only winner following Tuesday night's draft lottery. Check out the full story at nba.usatoday.com.

The NBA’s new reformed draft lottery process worked as designed.

With just a 6 percent chance of winning the lottery, the New Orleans Pelicans hit the jackpot and won the No. 1 pick (the Pelicans' ticket office had a perfect reaction, as did Alvin Gentry), giving new executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin the opportunity to select Duke’s Zion Williamson.

But that wasn’t the only stunner. Memphis, which with the eighth-best lottery odds had a 19 percent chance of moving into the top three and a 6.3 percent chance of moving to No. 2, got the second pick, and the Los Angeles Lakers, who had just a 9 percent chance of a top-four pick, ended up fourth.

The three teams with the best odds – 14 percent each for the New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers – didn’t get the No. 1 or No. 2 picks. The Knicks got the third pick (and the tabloids had a field day), and the Cavaliers and Suns fell to No. 5 and No. 6, respectively.

There are probably some smiles in the NBA’s basketball operations office. The league set out to reform the draft lottery in an attempt to reduce tanking. The new system flattened the odds and gave teams a better chance to move up.

The NBA doesn’t want to blame it on what the Philadelphia 76ers did several years ago. The league had been exploring lottery reform for years, and the Sixers weren’t the only team trying to manipulate the lottery odds in their favor. But consecutive seasons of 19, 18 and 10 victories for the Sixers combined with public condemnation and discussions by the league’s competition committee led to the reform.

This is what the NBA wanted. It proved a team doesn’t need to tank to get the No. 1 pick. 

Unofficially, New Orleans is on the clock. The No. 1 pick may give All-Star center Anthony Davis reason to rethink his trade demand. Griffin wants to try and convince Davis to stay before moving him.

If he can’t convince Davis to stay, Griffin can extract draft picks from another team in a trade that includes Davis. The Pelicans are in a good spot.

But while so much of the draft centers around Williamson and the Pelicans, the draft lottery itself was a victory for the NBA and a loss for tanking.

CATCH UP AROUND THE LEAGUE

— So, actual basketball went down this week, too. The Warriors (more like Stephen Curry) took down the Blazers in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. Damian Lillard showed up to the game, which was in Oakland, in an A's jersey, but he disappeared after that, along with CJ McCollum. Perhaps the best story line of this series? The Curry brothers facing off against each other. Their parents have a foolproof plan to determine who they should root for before each game. 

— Relax with all of the "Warriors are better without KD" takes. It's more complicated than that. 

— Warriors owner Joe Lacob says he wants the Splash Bros. to stay with the organization "forever."

— Has the Rockets' window closed?

— Dennis Rodman was accused of stealing merchandise and ... a 400-pound crystal? ... from a yoga studio in California. 

— You probably saw Kawhi Leonard's series-clinching buzzer-beater in Game 7 against Philly (shoutout Drake). But did you watch it with the Titanic song playing in the background? What about in Korean? We take an in-depth look at the historic shot. 

— This letter a 9-year-old wrote for Joel Embiid after seeing him cry may be the best thing you read all day. 

— This summer will be huge for the Sixers (Brett Brown is safe!).

— A video emerged Sunday showing a bloodied and angry Kristaps Porzingis outside of a club in his native Latvia, and the NBA and the Dallas Mavericks are looking into the incident.

— Giannis Antetokounmpo's comment about the Celtics set Boston Twitter ablaze.

— Frank Vogel is officially the head coach of the Lakers. Here are five things you need to know about him.

— Suns wing Josh Jackson was arrested Friday night at the Rolling Loud music festival in Florida. 

Check back next week for everything that went down in the Association.