FanPost

Joining the Ben Simmons Sweepstakes

The Suns finished the 2015-16 season with a dismal record of (23-59), but Suns fans should be excited that the NBA Draft Lottery, held on May 17, is less than month away.

How can a team who finished with the 2nd worst record in the Western Conference, only surpassing the Kobe Farewell Lakers and haven’t been linked to any big name free agents be optimistic about the future?

Joining the Ben Simmons sweepstakes.

Simmons, the freshman forward out of LSU, is the clear-cut favorite to become the No.1 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft and many analysts believe that whatever team wins the 19-year-old’s services will be title contenders for years to come.

However, having the worst record in the NBA doesn’t guarantee you the No.1 pick in the draft.

The team with the third-best odds of winning the lottery has won more than the team with the best and second-to-best odds since the format changed in 1994.

Since 1994, the team with the best odds has won four of the 22 draft lotteries, but the team with the third best odds has won five times within that time period, while the team with the second-best odds has won only three times, according to nba.com.

That’s right. The Suns are in a better position to land Ben Simmons than the Lakers and Sixers if we’re going by recent history odds.

The Suns will have the 4th best odds to receive the #1 pick, slightly below Boston with the 3rd best odds, who will get the Brooklyn Nets first-round pick via trade.

The popular opinion among fans of small market teams is that draft lotteries are fixed for big market teams like the Lakers and Knicks to return to title contention and keep their large fan bases, excited, also known to many as saving the NBA television audience, but this isn’t particularly true.

The Cleveland Cavaliers won the draft lottery 3 out of the 4 years LeBron James played in South Beach but during his first season returning to the Cavs, their 2015 NBA Finals appearance against the Warriors received the highest ratings among any finals broadcasted by ABC.

Yes, you can make the case that the league wanted to see a fairytale ending for the Akron, Ohio native to carry Cleveland to its first NBA title but it’s also easy to notice that casual fans were tired of watching the same teams compete for championships every year.

Since Jordan’s Bulls ended their dynasty in 1998, the Lakers, Spurs or Heat appeared in every NBA Finals prior to 2015.

It’s an amazing stat but you have to consider that the matchup between two unstoried franchises, Cavaliers and Warriors, added to last years Finals drama.

So dream on Suns fans, it isn’t far-fetched to envision Simmons bringing back the glory days of Suns basketball back to the desert.

Philadelphia fans won’t be happy with potentially dealing with more years of purposeful tanking and Laker fans will just turn their attention to the next superstar free agent.

Even though the Suns had a better record than Los Angeles, the Lakers still have the upper hand win the free agency sweepstakes.

On the bright side for Phoenix fans, the Suns are closer to competing for a playoff spot than Philadelphia or Los Angeles. They were only three games out of the eighth seed in the Western Conference standings before point guard Eric Bledsoe tore his meniscus in late December.

Next season the Suns will return experienced point guards Bledsoe and Brandon Knight, while Simmons could join a list of young talent all currently under the age of 23.

Rookie guard Devin Booker, center Alex Len and shooting guard Archie Goodwin are under 23 years old and averaging double-digit scoring totals during the past two months.

Simmons could play small forward or power forward in any lineup with these guys on the floor.

The Suns won’t compete with the Warriors in the Pacific Division next season if they draft Simmons, but they’ll be a fun group to watch building for the future with head coach Earl Watson leading the way.

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