OKC Thunder punt best shot at winning draft lottery via defeat of LAC

The 2020-21 NBA regular season is in the books as all 30 teams played on Sunday, May 16th to complete the schedule. The OKC Thunder played and defeated the LA Clippers who played their reserve unit.

It goes without saying this was far from the result the Thunder wanted and makes absolutely ZERO SENSE why the team would try to win that game. While it was understandable why the Clippers wanted to lose as they tried to align themselves outside the bracket the Lakers will be in.

Your narrator is still left scratching her head over how a team who lost 26 of 28 games down the stretch and was able to out tank other lottery clubs couldn’t summon the same result on the final game of the year.

OKC Thunder hurt their lottery odds via win versus Clippers

The cost is steep since the Thunder essentially threw away their best shot of winning the NBA Draft lottery. Moreover, they aren’t even guaranteed the fourth-best shot as the win tied them with the Cavaliers which will require a series of coin tosses to determine who gets the fourth-best odds and who gets the fifth-best odds.

To put it succinctly – if the OKC Thunder had grabbed that final bottom three position they along with the Rockets and Pistons would’ve had an equal  14 percent (top pick), 13.42 percent (second pick), and 12.75 percent (third pick). At worst OKC would’ve received the seventh pick with only a 7.02 percent shot of it being that high.

Now they’ll have to wait on a coin to determine if they get the fourth or fifth best lottery odds. And, with it, they could end up with the ninth pick in the draft. Sure, it’s not high odds but why even put the franchise in that position after tanking the entire season?

Suffice to say the narrator is supremely annoyed by the choice made. Reggie Jackson, Patrick Beverley, Ivica Zubac, and Luke Kennard are more than enough to beat the Thunder. So what? It’s more important for the Clippers to avoid the Lakers until the Western Conference Finals than it is for the Thunder to improve their odds to cement a top-three pick? That sure feels like what this was about.

As for the rest of the ladder here’s how everything aligns for the postseason and which teams will need coin tosses to determine their lottery positions.

In the West:

The Jazz won the conference (and will have home court throughout the playoffs). Utah will await the results of two play-in games to learn their opponent who’ll be one of the Lakers, Warriors, Grizzlies, or Spurs.

Phoenix is the second seed and will face either the Lakers or Warriors in round one.

Denver is the third seed and will face the sixth-seeded Blazers.

The Clippers were gifted by the Thunder to get the fourth seed and will face the fifth-seeded Mavericks.

In the East:

The 76ers won the conference (and will have home court throughout the Eastern side of the playoffs). Philly like Utah will await the results of two play-in games to learn their opponent who’ll be one of the Celtics, Wizards, Pacers, or Hornets.

Brooklyn is the second seed and will face either Celtics or Wizards in round one.

Milwaukee is the third seed and will face the sixth-seeded Heat.

The Knicks return to the postseason with home court via their fourth seed and will play the fifth-seeded Hawks. It’s a bit of luck for both teams that they won’t have to face a perennial playoff squad like the Heat, Bucks, or 76ers in the first round.

NBA Draft Lottery:

Because the Thunder won, they gift-wrapped a bottom-three finish for the Orlando Magic (yeah — I’m still seething over this result). This means the Rockets, Pistons, and Magic have the best odds to win the top three draft picks.

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• 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
• Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

A coin toss will determine the fourth and fifth-best lottery odds between the OKC Thunder and Cavaliers.

The Wolves have the sixth-best odds and if they don’t get a top-three pick will forfeit their pick to the Warriors. The Raptors have the seventh-best odds.

More coin tosses will occur to determine the eighth, ninth, and 10th positions from the trio of the Pelicans, Kings, and Bulls. Notably, if the Bulls pick lands outside the top four their pick will be conveyed to the Magic who could end up with two picks in the top five based on all the events of Sunday and the past week.

A final coin toss will determine the 11th and 12th order between the Hornets and Spurs. Finally, the Pacers and Grizzlies land in the 13th and 14th positions.

There you have it Thunder Nation the final standings following the end of the regular season. How do you feel about OKC beating the Clippers? Do you think it was avoidable and was it the biggest mistake the Thunder made this season?