Atlanta Hawks ping-pong chronicles: Series Finale

Peachtree Hoops has been doing daily updates to break down Atlanta’s fluctuating lottery position and also the status of the other two first-round selections owed to the Hawks by Minnesota and Houston.

Hawks draft position

As the Hawks’ season has come to an end, there is still some question as to where they will sit in the Draft Lottery. The Hawks cannot pick worse than seventh (and it would take some unbelievably bad luck to land there), but the team can still win the number one overall pick in the Draft if they are lucky enough.

With Dallas already tying Atlanta’s final record, the odds for each team would be split evenly and then a coin flip would decide which team has the advantage. Orlando had a chance to tie for the third-worst record last night but in fact won against the Wizards locking them into the fifth-best odds to win the Draft Lottery.

The odds for the third-worst record will be divided equally between Dallas and Atlanta meaning each team will get 137.5 combinations (the average of the third best combinations which is 156 and the average of the fourth best combinations which is 119). Since this average is not an integer, there will need to be a coin flip to determine if the Hawks or Mavericks get one extra combination. In short, a coin flip will decide which team has a (very) slight advantage in odds as one team will own 137 combinations and one team will own 138.

Also important is this coin flip if both the Hawks and Mavericks miss out on winning the lottery. If both teams do not pick within the top three whichever team owns the coin flip tiebreaker will pick one spot in front of the other team.

Minnesota and Houston pick status

Atlanta continues to hold the second-most valuable array of draft selections according to tankathon.com’s composite draft score ratings. Phoenix, the only other team that will control three first-round picks, currently sits ahead of Atlanta’s composite draft score of 141.11 with a score of 186.54.

Last night’s NBA action went phenomenally for Atlanta, as Minnesota punched their ticket to the NBA Playoffs securing the Hawks third first round pick in 2018. Also helpful for the positioning of that Timberwolves pick are the wins by Oklahoma City and New Orleans as the pick is now locked into the 18th or 19th overall selection, pending a coin flip on Friday between Minnesota and San Antonio, who both finished 47-35.

The Hawks were able to lock down the Rockets first round pick a couple of weeks ago as Houston simply steamrolled their way to the number one overall seed in the NBA. The Hawks will take Houston’s selection at 30th overall.

This is all great news for a Hawks team that needs to rebuild around the Draft and hopefully the lottery on May 15th in Chicago can add to what is already a great board for Atlanta.

Other teams at the bottom

The NBA standings are now final and here are all of the teams within the NBA Draft Lottery along with their odds of winning the number one overall pick or just a shot at getting a top three pick.

The Suns finished their season Tuesday night with a win against Dallas, meaning that no team in the NBA will finish below 21 wins this season. Phoenix owns the best odds to pick number one in the NBA Draft this summer with a 25% chance to win the first pick and a 64.2% chance at picking in the top three.

Memphis lost to the Thunder last night, securing themselves in the second-worst record positioning. The Grizzlies will hold a 55.8% chance at a top three pick and will own a 19.9% chance at number one overall in the Draft Lottery.

Dallas lost their final game of this season Tuesday night locking them into a tie with Atlanta for the third worst record overall. The Mavericks and Hawks will go to a tiebreaker in the near future to decide which team holds the advantage in the Draft.

The Orlando Magic picked up the win in their final game of the season last night against the Wizards, locking them into the fifth-worst record overall. This gives them the fifth-best odds at a top pick with a 8.8% chance to win the first selection and a 29.1% chance to pick within the top three.

The Kings easily took the win last night over the resting Houston Rockets and now drop into a tie with Chicago for the sixth-worst record overall, forcing yet another tiebreaker to occur. The average of the sixth-worst combinations and the seventh-worst combinations is 53 meaning that each team will have a 5.3 percent chance at winning the number one overall pick and a 18.3 percent chance at a top three pick.

Chicago, as mentioned before, is now tied with the Kings for the sixth-worst record overall after they took the loss last night to the Detroit Pistons. A coin flip will decide which team will get the slight advantage in the Draft as explained before with the Hawks/Dallas tiebreaker.

The Nets final game ended in a loss to Boston locking them into the eighth-worst record overall. Brooklyn does not own their first round pick, which is instead in the hands of the Cavaliers. Cleveland will have a 2.8% chance at picking number one overall and a 9.9% chance at picking in the top three.

New York finished an injury riddled season on a high note by defeating the Cavaliers last night. The Knicks are locked into the ninth-worst record overall and will own a 1.7% chance at picking number one overall and a 6.1% chance at picking in the top three.

The Lakers got the win to end their season last night against the Clippers which puts them at the tenth-worst record in the NBA. The Lakers do not own their first round pick which could go to one of two teams (crazy stuff I know). If the pick falls between number two overall and number five overall the pick goes to the Celtics and otherwise goes to the 76ers. The pick has a 1.1% chance of being the first overall pick and a 4% chance of falling within the top three.

Charlotte ended their disappointing season with a win on Tuesday night over the Indiana Pacers and lock themselves into the 11th-worst record overall with a 0.8% chance of picking number one and a 2.9% chance at picking with one of the top three selections.

Detroit finished the season, as mentioned before, with a win over the Bulls last night that slots them into the 12th-worst finish overall. Detroit owes their first round pick to the Clippers who will have a 0.7% chance at picking number one overall and a 2.5% chance of picking in the top three.

Los Angeles actually will have two chances to nab a top pick as they finished just behind Detroit with the 13th-worst record overall. The Clippers will have a 0.6% chance at the top pick and a 2.2% chance at picking in the top three.

The final spot of the NBA Draft Lottery is now occupied by the Nuggets after their hard fought loss to the Timberwolves last night. Denver has a 0.5% chance at picking number one overall and a 1.8% chance of picking within the first three selections after just missing the Playoffs.

I would like to just thank you all for continuing to read the daily updates of the Ping-Pong Chronicles. This may be a series we continue in the future should the Hawks fall within the lottery again in the coming seasons. We have much more coverage ahead as the coming weeks will be telling the Hawks where their first round pick will fall. Stay tuned.