The 2024 NBA Draft order is official following the lottery. The Portland Trail Blazers secured two lottery picks, No. 7 and No. 14.
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The Atlanta Hawks had a three percent chance of winning the first overall pick. Since the draft lottery started in 1985, only four teams have had slimmer odds and gone on to win the first pick. It’s the fourth time the Hawks have earned the No. 1 overall pick, but the first time they’ve won it in the draft lottery era.
Going by percentages, the Trail Blazers were unlucky with the draft lottery results. Portland had the following odds going into the lottery, according to Tankathon:
- Pick No. 1: 13.2 percent
- Pick No. 2: 12.8 percent
- Pick No. 3: 12.3 percent
- Pick No. 4: 11.7 percent
- Pick No. 5: 6.8 percent
- Pick No. 6: 24.6 percent
- Pick No. 7: 16.4 percent
- Pick No. 8: 2.2 percent
3. Teams picking ahead of the Blazers have similar needs
The Portland Trail Blazers and Charlotte Hornets tied for the third-worst record in the league at 21-61. However, the Blazers lost the "coin flip," meaning the Hornets obtained a 13.3 percent chance at the top pick while Portland had a 13.2 percent chance. The significance wasn't really about the odds. Charlotte and Portland fell out of the top four, meaning the Hornets jumped ahead to pick six.
With the Hornets now selecting at six and the Detroit Pistons at five, the Blazers could find themselves at the end of a run on forwards. Both Detroit and Charlotte currently have roster constructions similar to Portland's. All three teams were in the bottom ten in the league last season in three-point percentages, and all have similar strengths and weaknesses from a positional standpoint.
The Pistons will likely build around their point guard and center combination of Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren. At the same time, the Hornets have something similar brewing between LaMelo Ball and Mark Williams. Cunningham and Ball are both All-Star level point guards, and Duren and Williams took a giant leap this past season to prove they are worthy young starting centers to build around.
Even the Rockets at pick No. 3 and the Spurs at picks No. 4 and No. 8 have secured their center positions between Alperen Sengun and Victor Wembanyama. If the Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards don't select two-time National Champion center Donovan Clingan in the first two picks, then, barring a trade, he could fall as late as No. 9 to the Memphis Grizzlies. Interestingly, no other team needs a center until then.
Portland has its own point guard and center combination, which showed promise towards the end of the season with Scoot Henderson and Deandre Ayton.
Ayton had a very up-and-down first season in Portland. He drastically improved post-All-Star break and looked like a completely different player, being more comfortable, aggressive, and getting to his spots. Henderson also had his share of ups and downs, as expected from a rookie acclimating to the NBA level of play.
However, like Ayton, he seemed more comfortable in the Blazers system towards the end of the year. Henderson showed enough promise to consider him part of the long-term plan as the franchise point guard going forward.