After an eventful night full of surprises and ping pong balls, the NBA Draft order is finally set. In summary, the New Orleans Pelicans were granted with the number one overall pick, while the Memphis Grizzlies got the number two pick and the New York Knicks at three.

This was a surprising night for the Pelicans mostly because they were at only six percent odds to get the first pick. Now with this selection comes questions for the still looming 2019-2020 destination of all star Pelicans forward Anthony Davis. For those who aren’t aware, Davis requested a trade from the Pelicans near the trade deadline, but he wasn’t traded. New general manager for the Pelicans David Griffin stated in an interview that he wants to keep Davis and hopefully help Davis regain his love for New Orleans.  However, now getting the number one overall pick will bring in star Duke freshman forward Zion Williamson. Could Zion be the key to bringing back Davis or is Davis already on his way out of the Big Easy? Overall, this is a huge win for the New Orleans Pelicans organization and their future as an NBA basketball team.

This night brought great successes for some teams, but also great failures for others. Teams like the Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks didn’t get the pick the really wanted. First the Phoenix Suns. This landed the sixth overall pick in the NBA draft lottery despite having the worst record in the Western Conference and having the second highest losing point differential of any team. This is similar to the Cleveland Cavaliers who even with being tied for the second worst record in the NBA landed the fifth overall pick. Teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans who won over 30 games got higher picks when Cleveland won only 19.

And the worst loss is to the New York Knicks. The Knicks were in pursuit of a great tanking year in order to get the coveted first overall pick.  However when Deputy Commissioner of the NBA Mark Tatum told them that they got third, it was a heartbreaker. The Knicks had everything planned out. They opened up two max contract spots and were going to persuade free agents to join the blue and orange where Zion was going to be. However, now they will have to settle on RJ Barrett who is still a great talent, but not what Zion would bring.

Now with the NBA draft order set, we will wait until Thursday, June 20 to officially see which teams these young athletes will take their talents to.