NBA Draft Lottery was almost perfect for Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors should be mostly happy with how the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery played out in their favor. The Dubs will select No. 2 overall.

With flattened out odds, the Golden State Warriors entered the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery with just a 14 percent chance of winning the top pick. They fell just short of this goal, landing in second place behind the Minnesota Timberwolves.

This isn’t too bad of a place to be. After all, they had a close to 50 percent chance of dropping all the way to fifth in the order. The Warriors should be happy they managed to stay in the top three.

However, falling behind the Timberwolves does have some ramifications. Anthony Edwards seems to be the perfect prospect for the Wolves to pair as a wing alongside D’Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns. This hurts the Warriors as Edwards was reportedly one of their top options.

Of course, the Wolves could choose to do other things with the top pick. But, it seems unlikely they draft any of the other top three prospects as James Wiseman won’t be needed with Towns already on the roster and LaMelo Ball fills the same role as newly acquired Russell.

This means the Warriors will have to set their sights on either Wiseman or Ball. Or, they can look to drop further in the draft by trading the pick altogether. This is one benefit of remaining in the top three as the pick will still hold enough value to add leverage in trade talks. It should be noted that the Wolves could also make this process more complicated for the Warriors as some think Minnesota would be better off swapping picks and acquiring more talent to support their two stars.

Focusing more on the bright side, the Warriors can be thankful no other threats landed good picks. The Phoenix Suns stayed 10th in the order while the New Orleans Pelicans remained 13th. This is good for the Dubs who won’t have to worry about either of these rising teams adding another young talent.

One last positive is that the Washington Wizards and San Antonio Spurs fell deeper into the draft order. This opens up potential trades and pick-swaps for the Warriors as both of those teams should be looking to jump up for a higher selection.