Ex-Knick Kiki VanDeWeghe is the NBA’s executive VP who is in his sixth season moderating the behind-the-scenes actual ping-pong-ball lottery drawing and has an interesting viewpoint of how the NBA draft lottery works. He gives his thought about the process, the anticipation and the changes ahead of the drawing Tuesday to determine the order for the June 20 draft — when Duke star Zion Williamson is expected to be the No. 1 pick. Question: How nervous are you for the teams, and do you sense the drama in that room? Vandeweghe: Absolutely. The interesting thing is everybody is in the same spot. It’s an interesting dynamic. The other teams are competitors with each other. But they are all in this room sequestered together — all really nervous and excited at the same time. It’s an interesting atmosphere. It’s very cordial because everyone is in this together. The cell phones are put away, there’s no way to communicate with anybody. We’re a group amongst ourselves. We know a little bit ahead of everyone else what the results are.
Ex-Knick Kiki VanDeWeghe is the NBA’s executive VP wh…
March 29, 2023 | 1:38 pm EDT Update
Damian Lillard picks Lu Dort as the best defender in the NBA
Damian Lillard is one of the NBA’s most feared scorers, and it didn’t take him long to answer who he thinks is the best defender in the NBA. “Lu Dort,” Lillard said. “I think he has the perfect balance of strength, quickness, speed and desire to do it. And he’s young. So I just think he is the best at it.”
“It’s like he is a wall on wheels,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “You are not turning the corner on him. The Leonard play the other night – we’ve seen that countless times in game flow, where it’s like: ‘You are not going anywhere.’ It’s incredible.”
When Lillard sees Oklahoma City and Dort on the schedule, he says he slightly alters his approach. Lillard is always an relentless attacker, but he says he makes sure to establish that aggressiveness even earlier when playing Dort. “I just know what I’m dealing with,” Lillard said. “With a guy like him, I go at him first, so he knows he isn’t going to come in here thinking he is the boss of this s—. He’s going to have to be on his job, and he’s going to have to know that from the beginning.”
