2022 NBA Draft Lottery: 3 Results Spurs should root for

The San Antonio Spurs have once again found themselves in the NBA Draft Lottery. On May 17th, the Spurs will have a roughly 20% chance at a top-four overall pick, which would alleviate any worries the fans have about the direction the franchise is going.

Obviously, every single Spurs fan is hoping they will land as high as possible, but the best odds are that the Spurs will fall somewhere between the eighth and tenth pick. Outside of the Sliver and Black, there are plenty of reasons for Spurs faithful to tune in, as the annual tradition can completely alter the NBA landscape before the big show on June 23rd. 

If you are fueled by rivalry and spite or just want the NBA to be even more interesting and entertaining outside of San Antonio, as a Spurs fan there are three no-brainer Draft Lottery events to look out for, and that’s not including the obvious of the Spurs getting to pick number one.

1. The Detroit Pistons Fall

Ever since 2005, the Detroit Pistons have probably been the team you think about the least. They have spent the last 15-odd years hovering around mediocrity and have not quite been bad enough to register on the radar, up until they decided to blow it all up and rebuild completely. Their longest-tenured player is Killian Hayes, who was drafted seventh overall in 2020.

Last season, they stunk up the league and finally found their savior in Cade Cunningham. This season, they didn’t improve much, but they have some of the best lottery odds in the draft.

Why should Spurs fans care if the Pistons end up higher than San Antonio, which will probably happen based on the current odds? Well, the Detroit Pistons have their point guard of the future, they have elite wings in Saddiq Bey and Jerami Grant, but their big-man core is Isaiah Stewart, Kelly Olynyk, and Marvin Bagley III. All of those players are centers, and none of them are the pick-and-roll type of player they want to pair with Cade Cunningham. The Pistons are looking at Paolo Banchero, Jabari Smith, AJ Griffin, Keegan Murray, and Chet Holmgren. 

Those are exactly the guys the Spurs would want. While the odds are not in their favor, the San Antonio Spurs should hope that they still have options when their first pick rolls around, and one of the best ways to ensure that is if a team who is interested in the same players falls. The Pistons got lucky last season, so now it’s a Western Conference team’s turn.