Recently in 2024, an $842 million Powerball ticket was sold in Michigan. However, both Michigan teams, the Pistons and the Red Wings, don't have the same luck. In 26 lotteries, only once did the Pistons have the 1st pick in 2021.
This year, the Red Wings will draft 15th overall even though they finished 9th in the Eastern Conference, and the poor Pistons finished dead last in the NBA and were able to secure only the 5th overall pick. The worst happened for the Red Wings in 2020 when they had the highest chance to have the 1st overall pick and ended up with only the 4th at the time. Over time, this has led to some disappointment among the fans, as they wish their franchise would rebuild faster.
This exposes the lottery system as the teams that need the most help with the draft don't necessarily get the best picks at the end of the day. In 2020, the Red Wings missed out on Alexis Lafreniere but got Lucas Raymond instead, who is doing an excellent job as their leading scorer.
At the moment, all we can observe is that for these two franchises, the lottery system hasn't benefited them as much as the previous system. They will need to use other avenues to rebuild their franchises.
