Inside the NBA draft lottery

Raptors almost lucked into No. 1. Instead the Spurs get their pick, which isn’t all bad

- DOUG SMITH

Daniel Starkman and the Atlanta Hawks had the No. 1 combo - the Raptors matched the first three numbers.

CHICAGO There was a little statue of Buddha (maybe two inches tall, at best) tucked in the pocket of Raptors assistant general manager Dan Tolzman here Sunday.

It was his personal good-luck charm, he admitted after some badgering before the NBA draft lottery unfolded here in the highly structured, tightly secured anteroom of a cavernous convention centre. And man, did that little Buddha come oh-so-close to doing its job perfectly.

But like so much to do with the Raptors in the past season, a moment of promise and hope gave way to defeat and disappointment. And a shot at a top draft pick disappeared.

It was tantalizing, though.

The longshot Atlanta Hawks won the No. 1 pick with a four-number sequence of 6-10-14-13, vaulting from 10th to first and knocking Toronto down from sixth. That ensured the Raptors’ pick would be lost to the San Antonio Spurs as final payment for the repatriation of centre Jakob Poeltl in a February 2023 trade.

The galling point? The Raptors actually had 6-10-14 among their assigned combinations. But their final number was 4, not 13.