Pistons lose 2014 first round draft pick, because Cleveland

Cavs chances in 2011: 2.8%
Cavs chances in 2013: 15.6%
Cavs chances in 2014: 1.7%

Chances to get #1 in ALL THREE of those years? .007426%

— NBA thoughts (@NBA_thoughts_) May 21, 2014

The Pistons had a 17.6-percent chance of losing their Top-8-protected pick as part of the Ben Gordon-for-Corey Maggette trade with Charlotte in 2012. All that had to happen to keep their pick was for them to remain at No. 8 (72.4 percent) or vault into the Top 3 (10 percent). However, because Cleveland passed them in the lottery on their way to NO. 1 (!!!), the Pistons fell to No. 9 and thus, lost their pick to Charlotte.

I don’t want to explicitly call the lottery rigged, because why would anyone want to rig something for Cleveland, but those odds above are ridiculous. And can you imagine LeBron opting out of his final year with Miami to play with Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson and one of Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker or Joel Embiid with Jarrett Jack and Anthony Bennett off the bench? Not bad. Plus, LeBron’s boys with Johnny “Football” Manziel and represented by the same group. Juuuuust sayin’.

Thanks for the final memory, Joey D.