Lottery luck! Kings move up, receive No. 4 pick in NBA draft

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The Kings got a lot of luck from the NBA draft lottery gods on Tuesday, as they moved up three spots and received the No. 4 selection in the 2022 NBA Draft.

By virtue of their 30-52 regular-season record, the Kings had the seventh-highest lottery odds, and their chance of moving into the top four was only about 32 percent and the odds of them claiming the No. 4 pick was only 8.5 percent. But that’s exactly what happened, and now the Kings have an elite pick at their disposal as they look to retool their roster. 

The Kings are heading into a different era under new coach Mike Brown, who currently remains the associate head coach for the Warriors during their playoff run. General manager Monte McNair is heading into the third year of his tenure, hoping that this is finally the year that the franchise snaps its 16-year playoff drought.

McNair has drafted well in his two seasons at the helm, selecting Tyrese Haliburton at No. 12 in 2020 and Davion Mitchell at No. 9 in 2021. 

With the Kings picking fourth, consensus top prospects such as Gonzaga's Chet Holmgren and Auburn's Jabari Smith Jr. likely will be off the board by the time Sacramento is on the clock. But McNair and the Kings still should have the opportunity to select from whoever is available among top prospects such as Purdue’s Jaden Ivey, Duke’s Paolo Banchero, Kentucky's Shaedon Sharpe, Duke's A.J. Griffin and Iowa's Keegan Murray.

This is a huge boon to the Kings’ future outlook, and now the pressure is on McNair and Co. to make sure they nail the pick.

The 2022 NBA Draft will take place on June 23 from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

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