Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis (13) reacts after basket within the fourth quarter during a game at Golden 1 Center on Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022 in Sacramento.
pkitagaki@sacbee.com
The Kings made a daring move to alter the franchise’s fortunes after they made a blockbuster trade to amass Domantas Sabonis on the February trade deadline. Now, they’re hoping Sabonis can bring them a little bit lottery luck.
The Kings announced Thursday they may send Sabonis to Chicago to represent them in Tuesday’s NBA draft lottery. In previous years, the Kings have been represented by the likes of Anjali Ranadive, Vlade Divac, Willie Cauley-Stein, Dave Joerger, De’Aaron Fox and Monte McNair.
The Kings, who went 30-52 to complete with the seventh-worst record within the NBA this season, can have a 7.5% likelihood of being awarded the No. 1 pick and a 32% likelihood of landing in the highest 4. They can not receive the No. 5 or No. 6 picks under the present lottery format. They’ve a 19.7% likelihood of holding at No. 7, a 34.1% likelihood of falling to No. 8, a 12.9% likelihood of dropping to No. 9 and a 1.3% likelihood of dropping to No. 10.
The NBA draft will likely be held June 23 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Recent York. The Kings chosen Davion Mitchell with the No. 9 pick within the 2021 draft and Tyrese Haliburton with the No. 12 pick in 2020. They selected Marvin Bagley III with the No. 2 pick in 2018, the one time they’ve had a top-four pick since taking Tyreke Evans at No. 4 in 2009.
Gonzaga center Chet Holmgren, Auburn power forward Jabari Smith and Duke power forward Paolo Banchero are projected as the highest three picks on this 12 months’s draft. Other top prospects include Purdue shooting guard Jaden Ivey, Kentucky shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe, Iowa power forward Keegan Murray and Duke small forward AJ Griffin.
Jason Anderson is an award-winning sportswriter for The Sacramento Bee. He began his journalism profession at The Bee greater than 20 years ago and returned to cover the Sacramento Kings in September 2018.
