NBA Announces Specifics Surrounding Wizards' Memphis Draft Pick

That trade looked like a steal for the Wizards, but there was a catch; that Memphis pick was lottery protected, set to return to the Grizzlies should they fall short of the playoffs or come up small in the Play-In Tournament.

The Grizzlies finally clutched up and won their final Play-In game on Friday, drawing a matchup with the mighty Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs. The win ended two straight months of spiraling and solidified that the draft pick will fall outside of the lottery and stay with Washington. Wizards fans could continue their victory lap on Monday when the league settles its tiebreakers via coin flip, granting Memphis, and by extension Washington, the 18th pick in the first round.

That makes three draft picks that the team can look forward to using, especially sweet for the Wizards after they landed the best possible outcome and beat out two fellow 48-win teams in Golden State and Milwaukee in a three-team race against the odds.

Besides the obvious advantage of possessing a pick on the fringes of the lottery, not far from where the Wizards picked up Bub Carrington at number 14 a summer ago, this stroke of luck also gives Washington management another asset to play with. Should they find themselves not so fortunate during the lottery order drawing on May 12 and miss out on the number one overall pick, this can make for a juicy trade piece if the front office is looking to trade to a more convenient draft position.

The potential drop off from 20 to 18 isn't a steep one, but with a front office this savvy, any advantage helps.