Well, this is convenient. The 2015 NBA Draft Lottery shook out in a way that may make things easy on the teams selecting at the top.
The Minnesota Timberwolves landed the top pick in the draft, the first last-place team to do so since 2004. The Los Angeles Lakers jumped to No. 2 from No. 4, swapping spots with the New York Knicks, and the Philadelphia 76ers held steady at No. 3.
It's fitting there was no movement outside the top four, as there's generally considered to be a top tier of four prospects, save for a few teams that view Justise Winslow and Kristaps Porzingis as being equally compelling talents.
While Karl-Anthony Towns appears, at first blush, to be the best on-court fit with the core the Wolves have in place, he may land elsewhere. Towns has grown into the near-consensus No. 1 pick, passing Jahlil Okafor, but Minnesota is one of the few teams remaining that prefers Okafor, according to multiple reports.
That could be great for the Lakers, who seem likely to prefer Towns.
Towns has spoken highly of meeting Kobe Bryant in 2012, and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports speculated Tuesday that Towns may prefer to land in Hollywood.
He wouldn't be alone. DraftExpress reported Tuesday that Okafor would also prefer L.A. That could lead to a situation where either of the top prospects - both of whom skipped the NBA Draft Combine last week - are hesitant to work out with the Wolves, though the roughly $600,000 difference in first-year salary between the first and second picks could remedy that.
This also creates a scenario in which the Wolves could look to get money or a future second-round pick out of the Lakers in order to swap picks, similar to the Vince Carter-Antawn Jamison swap from 1998. That would ensure the Lakers get the player they prefer, save the Wolves a modicum of cap room and get them a chunk of change in the process.
For what it's worth, ESPN's Chad Ford and DraftExpress both have Towns going No. 1 in their latest mock drafts.
There remains more than a month before the June 25 draft, and no team is likely set in their plans yet. The Wolves may ultimately end up liking Towns, or a guard, better, or Towns could fall in love with Minnesota, and so on. This is all immediate reaction and, in large part, speculation based on a limited amount of information.
That's what this time of year is for, save for the four teams lucky enough to still be playing.
