CLEVELAND (AP) – The Cavaliers suffered yet another defeat. After losing 13 of its last 14 meetings and ending an injury-plagued season 22-50, Cleveland also failed to win a tiebreaker with Oklahoma City on Tuesday and will be fifth in next month’s draft lottery. one spot below the Thunder.
The two teams finished with the same record this season and this led to the order being decided with the flip of a coin that did not favor the Cavs. The draw was conducted by NBA Vice President Kiki VanDeWeghe at the league’s offices in Secaucus, NJ, and with oversight from the accounting firm Ernst & Young.
The league decided the order of five other teams that finished with the same records in the regular season: Chicago (31-41) won the tiebreaker with New Orleans and Sacramento; Charlotte (33-39) edged out San Antonio; the New York Knicks (41-31) took the tiebreaker against Atlanta; the Dallas Mavericks beat the Portland Lakers and Trail Blazers, and the Clippers (57-25) beat Denver.
The draft lottery will take place on June 22. The recruiting ceremony will be on July 29.
The chance of Cleveland getting the top draft pick and the ability to pick a franchise player like he did with LeBron James nearly 20 years ago did not change with the tiebreaker.
Both the Cavs and the Thunder have an 11.5% chance of winning the lottery – which Cleveland did in 2003, 2011, 2013 and 2014. Oklahoma City has a 7.4% chance of having the fifth pick, compared to 2% for the Cavaliers.
The result also means that Cleveland will be able to select among the first nine at-bats and Oklahoma City among the first eight, in the worst-case scenario for each team.
The Cavs have a good core of young players at point guards Collin Sexton, Darius Garland and forward Isaac Okoro, who had a good rookie season. But the team needs a superstar to build the team around and he hopes to get lucky with the draft.
Houston, which finished with the worst record in the league at 17-55, has the highest chance of winning the lottery at 14%, along with Detroit (20-52) and Orlando (21-51). (AP) (GG)