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The Cavs got some unlucky draft news on Tuesday.
Per the NBA, the Cavs lost their coin flip with the Thunder to see who would get the fourth-best draft lottery odds and the fifth-best odds. Because the Cavs lost, they have the latter. Here’s their full draft odds:
Pick odds via @tankathon pic.twitter.com/smbKezCSVc
— Chris Manning (@cwmwrites) May 25, 2021
Ultimately, this isn’t the end of the world even it opens the door just a smidge more for the Cavs to slip. They still have the same adds as the Thunder for getting a top-four pick, which is good. But slipping to sixth or seventh is now much likelier.
Also of note: The Cavs have won lottery coin flips and then ended up with a worse pick before. Look back at 2012, when Cleveland won a coin flip with New Orleans. The Pelicans then ended up winning the lottery to get Anthony Davis and the Cavs picked fourth and got Dion Waiters. This is really just luck at the end of the day.
The actual 2021 NBA Draft Lottery — aka when it’s time to actually care about ping pong balls — is scheduled for June 22.