There weren’t many worse landing spots for Duke’s Zion Williamson in the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery than the New Orleans Pelicans.
It can be frustrating for a fan of the Chicago Bulls to experience what happened in the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery. This was pretty much the sweepstakes to get the game-changing talent that is the Duke Blue Devils superstar 6-foot-7 forward Zion Williamson.
It seemed like the entire NBA was frustrated with the reality that is the hapless Pelicans getting the first overall pick from the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery.
With the Bulls, New York Knicks, and Los Angeles Lakers each landing outside the top two, there could be any number of shakeups in the early part of the first round of the draft. The Pelicans still don’t have a clear direction if former Kentucky Wildcats big man Anthony Davis wants out despite the opportunity to play alongside Zion Williamson.
Yet, the Bulls wound up landing the No. 7 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery. This will be the second straight year that the Bulls are picking in this position in the draft. That has to be a letdown for this fan base in the biggest fashion possible.
A key takeaway here for both the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery and teams like the Knicks and Bulls in particular is that tanking might not work very well anymore. The Knicks wound up with the No. 3 pick in this draft, which wasn’t as bad as the fortunes for the Bulls who dropped three spots from where the odds sat.
Here’s a look at why the New Orleans Pelicans is such a poor landing spot for Zion Williamson after the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery, and what this means for all the teams in the top half of the first round.