NASHVILLE — No matter the setup, the COMO Draft Lottery seems to engender significant controversy on an annual basis. Monday night was no exception, as the Chaska Moose — making their first-ever lottery appearance — appeared to benefit from a last-minute change of plans. As commissioner Alex Smith was about to announce the No. 2 overall selection, he paused and stated that the next envelope would instead receive the No. 1 overall pick. The precedent for such a move is almost non-existent. Smith called it a "spur-of-the-moment decision to increase drama." So, instead of being given the No. 2 pick, the next envelope — Chaska — got No. 1 and a chance to draft generational talent Zion Williamson in late July. The other team: St. Louis. General manager Aaron Connolly was beside himself, screaming, "Zion was taken from me!" After reviewing the video footage, he asserted, "Each time I watch it, I am more convinced that there are some shenanigans going on." Never mind that some pundits see projected No. 2 pick Ja Morant as a future Hall of Fame selection. Every team that entered the lottery (a six-team group that included expansion franchises Hamburg and Scranton) had its sights set solely on Williamson, a Duke phenom whose 6-foot-7, 285-pound frame and seemingly impossible vertical leap have carried him to near-mythical status before he's even set foot on the professional hardwood. So it's understandable that Chaska general manager Joseph Fafinski unleashed several exclamation points after securing the right to draft Williamson. "Zion!!!!!!" Fafinski shouted. "He was born to graze!" Hamburg and Scranton each had a 10 percent chance of snagging the No. 1 pick, while Chaska, St. Louis, Paisley Park and Colorado all had a 20 percent chance. Colorado was the biggest loser of the night, winding up at No. 5 (though the Top-5 status allowed the Hilltoppers to keep their pick away from St. Louis for one more season). Hamburg was first off the board at No. 6, then Colorado at No. 5, Scranton at No. 4, and Paisley Park at No. 3 before the real drama commenced. Video shows Chaska's envelope being opened by the commissioner's wife, Bridget, before the commissioner decides to change the format of the lottery. In his defense, Smith stated, "I never looked at the envelope until after I announced the change. What you saw on the screen was what I saw. You can even see my left hand covering the slip of paper until the announcement was made." "Furthermore," he said, "I had no incentive to swing the lottery toward or away from St. Louis. This is a championship franchise with an excellent young core and some bright seasons ahead. I'm proud of the work Aaron has done in resurrecting the Hornets from Curt Clauss' trash mountain of squandered potential." Connolly was unswayed. He'd seen multiple other COMO lottery attempts go sideways (Paisley Park general manager Brendan Halleron referenced the 2017 lottery, when the commissioner placed slips of paper inside an acoustic guitar and Kansas City won by virtue of getting stuck inside the instrument for more than a year). "Sure looks like Chaska's envelope was opened prior to that decision being made," Connolly said. Did it remind him of the infamous 1985 NBA Draft Lottery, in which commissioner David Stern allegedly used a frozen envelope to send Patrick Ewing to the New York Knicks? "This might actually top that," he said. "I will not forget this." 2019 COMO Draft order
0 Comments
|
Archives
March 2024
Categories
All
|