Lakers send eighth pick in 2022 NBA Draft to Pelicans

As part of the Anthony Davis, what would’ve been the eighth pick in this year’s NBA draft for the Lakers is going to the Pelicans.

In life, when someone wants to get ahead, they have to give something up.

For the Lakers to acquire superstar big man Anthony Davis and win the NBA championship, they had to part with three good players in Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart, plus some draft capital.

One of those draft picks will be used in next month’s draft, and on Tuesday, it came up as the eighth selection during the NBA draft lottery.

That pick will go to the New Orleans Pelicans as part of the Davis deal.

But coming into the lottery, they were not assured of keeping the pick.

Because of a trade they had made with the Memphis Grizzlies, they would’ve given up the pick if it had landed outside of the top 10.

As a result, the Pelicans had a funny message for the Lakers.

Because of Davis’ significant injuries the past two seasons, some Lakers fans are starting to regret trading for him, and they would rather have the draft capital and a rising star in Ingram, although it would’ve meant no ring in 2020.

But what’s done is done, and L.A. still boasts arguably the best duo in the NBA (when healthy).

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The 10 betting favorites to win 2021 NBA Rookie of the Year

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Klutch Sports Draft: Anthony Edwards goes No. 1 in 2020 NBA Draft

Edwards averaged 19.1 points per game, five rebounds, and just under three assists during his freshman year at Georgia.

The Minnesota Timberwolves, at least at the time of publishing, decided to keep the No. 1 pick in Wednesday’s 2020 NBA Draft and selected Georgia’s Anthony Edwards to join their other two core pieces, Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell. Edwards became the heavy favorite to go No. 1 overnight at the sportsbooks and he was emerging already as the physically strongest player available at the top of the draft in addition to his strong play at Georgia last season.

Edwards averaged 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game in 32 games. Edwards had three games last season in which he scored 30 points or more with the Bulldogs. According to some of the Georgia strength coaches, they’ve never seen anything like Edwards when it comes to his strength and athleticism.

While he was a guard in college, the 6-5 Edwards should be able to play on the wing at the NBA level and fit next to Russell and Towns. Edwards is the first Klutch Sports Group player since Ben Simmons in 2016 to No. 1 overall in the NBA Draft.

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Adam Silver says NBA’s ‘No. 1 goal’ is getting fans in arenas

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols that the start of the NBA season in December is “a little early.”

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Prior to Thursday night’s important Game 2 between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers, there was an important order of business for the NBA that occurred in the minutes before the game. During the ESPN broadcast of the NBA Draft Lottery, which determined the draft order for the first 14 picks of the 2020 NBA Draft, Adam Silver admitted what had been reported earlier in the day. A start to the 2020-21 season in early December is unlikely to come to pass.

For the NBA, the No. 1 priority is getting fans back into arenas and they will try to wait as long as possible for that revenue stream to be available to them.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported earlier in the day that the NBA Player’s Association was already telling their players to prepare for a delay in free agency and a delay in the start of the NBA Draft as well.

The first pick in Thursday’s lottery was won by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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Kentucky’s Tyrese Maxey signs with Rich Paul and Klutch Sports

Rich Paul has landed one of his first big fish of the upcoming NBA Draft in Kentucky’s Tyrese Maxey.

While the word from basically every level of the NBA seems to indicate that players, owners and the rest of the apparatus are hopeful of finishing the season in some form, without fans. But whenever the NBA completes their season, there will be an NBA Draft at some point this year, whether it’s digital like tomorrow’s WNBA Draft or whether it will be another made-for-TV event without fans but includes the participants. No matter when and where the draft is held, Klutch Sports has signed its first player who is expected to go in the 2020 NBA Draft.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowksi reported on Thursday that Kentucky’s Tyrese Maxey has signed with Klutch Sports and Rich Paul.

Klutch also announced the move on Instagram.

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We are excited to welcome @tyresemaxey! #Klutch

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Our own Bryan Kalbrosky had Tyrese Maxey going in the lottery at No. 7 in his latest Mock Draft. The NBA has yet to determine the draft order as there has been no lottery and with no clear return on the horizon for the NBA, it appears that everything is movable given the current circumstances. Maxey likely won’t be the last draft pick who ends up with Klutch by the draft gets here, whenever it does.

The Kentucky pipeline also remains strong for Klutch as Maxey joins other fellow Wildcats such as Anthony Davis, John Wall and Eric Bledsoe.

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