The New Orleans Pelicans landed the No. 1 overall selection on the NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday night despite having only six percent odds of drawing the winning ping-pong ball, and Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is happy for Pelicans head coach and former Warriors assistant Alvin Gentry:
That means that the Pelicans will likely end up taking Duke phenom Zion Williamson who, ironically, was the player many felt they would be coveting in Anthony Davis trade talks.
Now, New Orleans doesn't even have to trade Davis to have the chance to draft Williamson, as the Pels can just take him at No. 1 overall.
Steve Kerr happy for Alvin Gentry for Pelicans getting the No. 1 pick pic.twitter.com/5tBNJ4ozJR
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) May 15, 2019
It's hard not to be happy for Gentry and the Pelicans, who had one heck of a rough season.
In spite of rather high expectations coming into the year, New Orleans fell flat in the Western Conference, failing to make the playoffs. Not only that, but superstar big man Anthony Davis asked for a trade in the middle of the season, a devastating blow for a small-market team like the Pels.
But now, the Pelicans can rest easy knowing that even if they do end up dealing Davis this summer (and they probably will), they will still have a heck of a piece to build around in Williamson plus whatever pieces they get back in a potential Davis trade.
New Orleans has made the playoffs just twice in the Davis era, most recently doing so last spring when the Pelicans actually made it to the second round, only to be eliminated by Kerr's Warriors.
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