Dikembe Mutombo might have known something after all. On Tuesday afternoon, he sent a congratulatory tweet about the Philadelphia 76ers winning the NBA’s draft lottery to receive the No. 1 overall pick…several hours before the order was decided.
LOOK WHAT YOU DID, DIKEMBE! #What pic.twitter.com/pYUfLAAo2H
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) May 17, 2016
Mutombo quickly deleted the tweet and clarified that he was getting overexcited about the pre-lottery odds, which gave the Sixers the best chance at getting the top pick. As it turns out, that was good enough.
The lottery went entirely in the expected order, and the Sixers will own the first pick, getting their choice between expected top-two prospects Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram.
Here’s the full 2016 lottery order:
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Boston Celtics
- Phoenix Suns
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Denver Nuggets (Higher of New York’s or their own pick)
- Sacramento Kings
- Toronto Raptors (Lower of Denver’s or New York’s pick)
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Orlando Magic
- Utah Jazz
- Phoenix Suns (Washington’s pick)
- Chicago Bulls
Even in spite of winning the lottery, the night didn’t go quite as well as it could have for the Sixers. The Lakers, who had the second-best odds of getting the top pick, held position at No. 2 — if they had finished fourth or lower, Philadelphia would have gotten their pick.
Even still, after three years of embarrassments, most Sixers fans will probably take it.
