The Washington Wizards will send Zach Leonsis to represent the team in the Draft Lottery scheduled for May 17th, according to Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post.
Son of owner Ted Leonsis, Zach is also connected to the team as he is the vice president and general manager of Monumental Sports Network. The organizations owns and operates the Wizards as well as the Washington Capitals, Washington Mystics, and the Verizon Center.
Leonsis will be featured on the televised program as the representative of the Wizards as they hope to retain their pick.
The Wizards traded their first round pick to the Phoenix Suns at the trade deadline in order to pry away Markieff Morris but it is top nine protected, meaning they would be able to keep it this year if it falls in the top nine of the draft standings. The pick has the same protection through 2021 but is unprotected in 2022 should Washington be unable to give it up before then.
As Washington ended with the 13th worst record in the league, its only chance of retaining the pick and adding a young, cheap player to its roster is for lottery luck to launch them into the top three. Unfortunately for them, they have only a 2.2% chance of doing that with the right lottery combinations, meaning it would take some miraculous luck to keep the pick this year.
The Wizards will be hoping that Zach Leonsis can give them the luck they need.
