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Nick Gilbert will represent Cavs once again at 2019 NBA Draft lottery

ByDan Gilinsky|
Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images
Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

The Cleveland Cavaliers are hoping to have repeat success, as they will be sending Nick Gilbert, their good luck charm, to represent the team as its on-stage participant in the 2019 NBA Draft lottery next week.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have had plenty of good fortune in the recent past in the NBA Draft lottery, and they’ll be hoping to have that once again.

On May 14, the 2019 NBA Draft lottery will commence, and Cleveland will be entering that as the number two team, but realistically, the Cavs, New York Knicks and Phoenix Suns, due to the NBA’s new lottery rules, will all have the same 14.0% chance (per Tankathon) of landing the number one pick, due to them having the three worst records in the 2018-19 season (Cleveland finished 19-63, per NBA.com).

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The number one pick, as we’ve often hit on here at KJG, will almost certainly be Duke phenom Zion Williamson. He was outstanding all year with 22.6 points on 70.8% effective field goal shooting, to go with 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.8 blocks per game (per Sports Reference).

So what’s the best chance for the Cleveland Cavaliers to land the rights to draft Williamson?

That’s simple, really, in that they are going to go with what’s worked before.

The team is having their good luck charm from the recent past, Nick Gilbert, the son of Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, be their on-stage representative once again at the 2019 NBA Draft lottery next week in Chicago, according to the NBA Draft’s official Twitter (and h/t WKYC’s Ben Axelrod).

https://twitter.com/NBADraft/status/1126156232526581760

Cleveland will also have Brock Aller, its Senior Director of Basketball Operations, as its representative in the lottery drawing room, per the NBA Draft’s Official Twitter, again.

The Cavs will hope Gilbert allows them to strike gold once again in the lottery. From 2011 to 2014 (four draft lotteries), Cleveland won the lottery three times, and Gilbert was the on-stage representative for two of those victories.

The Cavs, due to a reported pre-lottery tiebreaker win with the Phoenix Suns (h/t Dan Gilbert’s Twitter), who finished with the same record last year, will come in as the number two team in the lottery by odds, and that means that Cleveland’s worst-case scenario is them landing the sixth overall pick, whereas Phoenix’s worst-case scenario would result in them landing the seventh overall pick in this year’s lottery (per Tankathon).

The aforementioned Axelrod had more to add in relation to Gilbert getting another opportunity, and Gilbert just being up there on the stage is encouraging for the Cavs and their fans, anyhow, given his medical struggles.

"“This will mark the fifth time Gilbert has represented Cleveland at the lottery, including last year when the Cavs owned the Brooklyn Nets’ first-round pick. Although that selection stayed put at No. 8 overall, Gilbert was there when the Cavs won the draft lotteries in 2011 and 2013, famously replying ‘What’s not to like?’ when asked about the lottery victory that ultimately resulted in Cleveland selecting Kyrie Irving eight years ago.Now 22-years-old, Gilbert suffers from neurofibromatosis, which causes tumors to grow anywhere on the body at any time. Last year, he successfully underwent brain surgery to help temper the condition, for which he and his family have become prominent spokespeople for.”"

It would be outstanding, obviously, if the Cleveland Cavaliers can have the Nick Gilbert good luck charm yet again, just like in 2011 and 2013, as Williamson looks like one of the best prospects to come into the NBA since Cleveland drafted LeBron James first overall back in 2003.

We’ll see what happens during the 2019 NBA Draft lottery on May 14 on ESPN, of which as Axelrod highlighted, the event will start at 8:30 P.M. ET.