The final Brick for Vic stock report: NBA Draft Lottery edition

Stand on your head for one night because this is when everything gets flipped upside down so the NBA bottom feeders can plant the flag on a summit. Tuesday’s NBA Draft lottery is an especially important inflection point in NBA history. There won’t be any wavering over who will be the top pick in next month’s NBA Draft like there was in 2022. Victor Wembanyama has been the crown prince of the 2023 class since he strode into Las Vegas’ Dollar Loan Center and chewed up the G League Ignite. After his October performance, he was already the 76th-best player in the NBA 75. Every once-in-generation, a sublime prospect leaves so little doubt that the annual draft lottery is recognized as the seminal moment. 1985 when the Knicks earned the right to draft Patrick Ewing. In 1993, Shaq to Orlando only occurred because Orlando shocked the basketball world with a ping-pong prayer that was heard from above. In 2003, LeBron James nearly wound up in Memphis or Denver.

The narrative on the draft is written today, not in two months. The deeper you dive into the lottery, the thinner the odds get, but what’s more impossible between a 7-foot-3 Kevin Durant-Ralph Sampson hybrid or New Orleans salvaging this lost season with an improbable lottery surprise from the bottom (or top) of the pack?

Odds: 14 percent

The worst team in the NBA hasn’t won the draft lottery since the league reformed Detroit winning the lottery would ensure they have one of the NBA’s biggest lineups in 2023, but Wembanyama’s slim frame makes him an ideal four alongside Jalen Duren or James Wiseman (pictured) in the Pistons lineup. The Pistons need this more than anything. Detroit hasn’t been near the center of the basketball universe in nearly two decades. After the last big phenom disrupted their Eastern conference hegemony, it’s only right that they get their hands on the next big thing.

Odds: 14 percent

From one phenom to another, LeBron James labeled Wembanyama an extraterrestrial talent. Being within proximity of NASA’s Space Center sounds ideal then. Current Rockets center Alperen Şengün (pictured) is stretchy enough to conform around Wembanyama without compromising his own usage. Şengün’s ingenuity with the rock in his possession will open up one of the most unique two-man frontcourts in the league. New head coach Ime Udoka has an affinity for teaching defensive discipline and he is going to have the makings of a formidable defensive frontcourt with Jabari Smith slotting in beside Wembanyama.

Odds:14 percent

Gregg Popovich (pictured) didn’t mind all that losing this season for this purpose. The league’s all-time coaching wins leader has one more act left in him. The Spurs parted ways with Dejounte Murray because they knew the assignment. Losing was winning and Pop is the best at anything he put his basketball IQ to. Am I being overly complimentary of Pop’s ability to save his best coaching for practices, not games this season? Possibly.

The team owner for the ASVEL club Wembanyama cut his professional teeth with before decamping to Metropolitans 92 for the 2022-23 season is owned by former Spurs great Tony Parker and his brother was the coach. Pop can bring the Parker story full circle and prepare to end his career on a high note. The talent surrounding Wembanyama isn’t overwhelming, but San Antonio’s ability to identify and develop talent is analogous to Pat Riley in Miami. Wembanyama will thrive with one of the NBA’s most stable franchises and Pop is the coach most likely to make him a better player in the long run.

Odds: 12.5 percent

Charlotte’s draft lottery result could sway the fate of a franchise more than any other lottery team in a long time. First off, there’s still no official word on whether majority owner Michael Jordan (pictured) is selling the franchise or not. Winning the lottery might reinvigorate Jordan’s competitive juices, and convince him to hold on for at least a few more years.

Why sell right when you secure a generational running mate for LaMelo Ball (pictured)? Or Wembanyama could accelerate Jordan’s sale of the Hornets by raising their valuation. Either way, Ball and Wembanyama would make for a preposterous 1-2 punch. Charlotte’s defense has been a concern for the past three seasons, but Wembanyama’s length and instincts are good enough to compensate for deficiencies in the Hornets’ lineup.

Odds: 10.5 percent

Could this be the reawakening of Dame Time? Quietly, the Blazers accumulated the fifth-best lottery odds while Damian Lillard (pictured) spent every waking moment of 2023 reminding the league that he was happier losing in Rip City than winning elsewhere as a mercenary. No team has had crueler luck in the draft than the Portland Trail Blazers. This team took Sam Bowie in a draft featuring Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon. They drafted Greg Oden over Kevin Durant. Brandon Roy’s knees. LaMarcus Aldridge’s insecurity led to himself (and Wesley Matthews) fleeing in free agency right when they gathered momentum to challenge Golden State in the West. OK, maybe we shouldn’t want Wembanyama anywhere near this cursed franchise.

Portland is fascinating because winning the Wembanyama sweepstakes gives Lillard a greater incentive to exhibit otherworldly patience and wait for his supporting cast to develop. Wembanyama creates a light at the end of the dark tunnel. Lillard’s window is dwindling, but Wembanyama extends that by ensuring that he won’t need to be the best player on a contender. It will be more interesting to see what they do with Lillard if they earn the second pick. Point guard Scott Henderson is the acclaimed prodigy projected to go right behind Wembanyama.

Odds: 9 percent

The Magic have a type. They traded for Wembanyama-lite in Bol Bol, drafted Paulo Banchero (pictured), Mohamed Bamba (now a Laker), and the perpetually injured Jonathan Isaac. How many tall, lanky, rangy, positionless forwards can one team fit in its rotation? As promising as Paolo Banchero is, he’s not a transcendent player and he’s got a long way to go in proving that his ceiling is high enough to lead Orlando to the top of the East one day. Wembanyama’s sky-high potential immediately puts a sunroof in the Amway Center.

Odds: 6.8 percent

Indiana’s often had good hoops, but never had a true phenom. They deserve a break. Tyrese Haliburton would obviously make life easier for Wembanyama on the offensive end while he feels his way around the league and fills out his body. However, Wembanyama likely makes Myles Turner (pictured) expendable again. Turner signed a contract extension mid-season and was finally off the trade block for the first time in years. However, Indiana’s 27-year-old floor-spacing rim protector is a redundancy with Wembanyama and neither can rebound well either.

Odds: 6.7 percent

The Wizards are stuck with Bradley Beal’s (pictured) onerous supermax contract and have decisions to make in regard to Kristaps Porzingis, who is facing the downside of his career. At least Wembanyama would get a season of training under the wing of the original unicorn. Porzingis is the blueprint, but Wembanyama is the upgrade. Most importantly, Porzingis’ physical transformation is the model for Wembanyama.

Odds: 4.5 percent

The Jazz expected to have some of the best odds in the lottery when they traded Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell during the off-season. Instead, their veteran-laden roster led Utah to a hot start and those aspirations dissipated. Or did it? Utah winning the lottery with 4.5 percent odds would be the fifth-lowest odds for a lottery winner.

Wembanyama resembles Gobert and Mitchell if you placed them in Jeff Goldblum’s telepod and accidentally merged their basketball DNA. Offensively, Wembanyama possesses a scoring profile similar to Mitchell’s, but on a frame with Gobert’s length. Defensively he’s Gobert if the former Defensive Player of the Year could defend the perimeter with Donovan Mitchell’s litheness. Paring Wembanyama and rookie Walker Kessler (pictured) is the foundation of a frontcourt that is casting a shadow over any scorers in the paint.

Odds: 3 percent

This would be a resounding victory for tanking and change the trajectory of multiple Hall of Fame careers. The Mavericks and Mark Cuban were given a stern rebuke and the league fined them leftover change Cuban forgot to transfer out of his Cash App for doing everything in his power to retain their 10th overall pick. Hell, maybe this might even convince Kyrie Irving to actually commit to Dallas for the long term. As a distributor, Luka excels at all the things Wembanyama doesn’t do so it’s not like they’d be adding another ball-dominant perimeter player. However, Luka is a low-grade defender. Wembanyama can be instantly plugged in and instantly improve Dallas’ defensive upside while giving them a third offensive threat.

Odds: 1.8 percent

The last time Chicago won the draft lottery was in 2008 when their 1.7 percent odds were enough to put them atop the Derrick Rose draft. These Bulls are going nowhere fast. DeMar DeRozan (pictured) should get traded in the off-season to a playoff team or one further along in its development absolutely, but Zach LaVine. On second thought, this is the most directionless team Wembanyama could end up in. Aside from LaVine, Wembanyama would be the only long-term solution already in place for Chicago.

Odds: 1.7 percent

Stuffing Wembanyama into a lineup of studs like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (pictured), Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren leaves Sam Presti with the top 25-and-under roster in The Association for the first time since the early James Harden-KD-Russell Westbrook era. Williams made a late push for Rookie of the Year, SGA morphed into an All-Star, Giddey added more consistency on his range and is the true point guard on offense while Wembanyama could glue it all together into a championship sculpture.

Odds: 1 percent

Wembanyama would thrive in the NBA’s foremost French-speaking city. Pascal Siakam and Chris Boucher are also fluent in Wembanyama’s native language, which can ease his transition to the league. Unlike most American-born players, Canada won’t feel like a different world. This development would accelerate the first true Raptors rebuild in a decade. Alongside 2022 Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes and spin gawd Siakam, Masai Ujiri will have the Raptors cooking in no time.

Odds: 0.5 percent

It is amazing how the Lakers and Pelicans have swapped positions. During the first month of the season, Nola looked like it might wind up with home-court advantage in the postseason and get to exercise its pick swap for the Lakers lottery pick. Zion Williamson (pictured) missed the last three months of the regular season, while the Lakers terraformed their roster and are four wins away from the NBA Finals. Imagine the juxtaposition of a healthy Hulk of a man, Williamson, and stick-figured Wembanyama. Both are health risks, but can you imagine being the team responsible for tracking these two guys’ meal plans and monitoring their knees?