The Los Angeles Lakers and their fans will be sweating buckets on draft lottery night, when the future of the franchise will be hanging in the balance.
Based on record, the Lakers will be slotted into the No. 3 lottery spot, with a 47-percent chance to remain in the top three, and thus keep their top-three protected draft pick. If anyone behind them jumps in the lottery, the Lakers' pick will be conveyed to the Philadelphia 76ers.
A top-three pick in this year's highly-touted draft could shape the Lakers for years to come, propelling them back to relevancy after the worst stretch in franchise history. Missing out would leave them in the cave, with no discernible path to the light.
New Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, however, feels confident he'll be able to navigate that path regardless, and insists he's ready for any outcome.
"Listen, I think you have to be prepared for whatever scenario when you're looking at a random event like the lottery," Pelinka told reporters Thursday, according to ESPN's Baxter Holmes.
"People are asking, 'Do you guys have to have to that pick?' That's something that I get asked at every single game. I think we're prepared to have it, and we also have a plan if we don't.
"I think for us, if we get the lottery balls to bounce our way, yes, we have a great attack plan for the draft. But if we don't, just like (many famous) sports moments, we have to find a way, and we do have a plan, to still get to where our ultimate destination is without the draft pick."
All the same, Pelinka will surely have white-knuckled fingers crossed on the night of May 16.
