Obviously I didn't watch the Draft Lottery

Braves baseball aired nationally from the time I was born until 2007. Weekday afternoons likely had a Braves game starting at 4pm west coast time that served as a crucial bridge until the local boys were on at 7. What a treat to catch out of market games reliably. That era was dominated by Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine. As the pitchers moved on, you could still watch Andruw Jones, Chipper, and any number of competitive Big Leaguers. Every night, the dugout would be manned by Bobby Cox and his sidekick Leo Mazzone. Cox passed away over the weekend.

Cox left his mark on hundreds of pro baseball players including former Brave and current Dodgers’ first baseman Freddie Freeman. Freeman shared how much Cox taught him about the Braves Way. One example he shared describes how Cox wouldn’t allow sunglasses to be worn on the front bill of a cap. Should the late afternoon Atlanta blaze dip behind cloud cover, it was expected to wear your shades on the back of your hat. Nothing could interfere with the crisp “A” logo on the Braves hat.

Baseball at the highest level is all in the details. Lifelong Baseball Men like Cox held the secrets about all the Little Things. Now, it’s on us, and Freddie Freeman to keep passing those things down.

For whatever reason, the NBA aired the Draft Lottery on a Sunday, Mother’s Day afternoon. Not exactly the brightest spotlight for one of the League’s most consequential drafts.

The Wizards clipped the Jazz for the top overall spot, and by most calculations, the right to draft AJ Dybantsa. Is Dybantsa destined to wind up in Washington? We shall see.

If you ever wondered how a Massachusetts basketball prodigy wound up playing for BYU, look no further than Jazz owner Ryan Smith. Smith, a tech billionaire, has for some reason benefactored Dybantsa’s entire prep career. After starting high school in Napa (at a fake school designed for athletes), Smith lured Dybantsa to Utah for his senior season. Shortly after, Dybantsa committed to BYU and inked the largest NIL deal in history. AJ’s earned no less than $7m already and it’s entirely (and legally) been funneled his way by the team with the number 2 pick in the draft.

So how can Dybantsa return the favor to Smith? Does he have to? Are the Jazz building a de facto minor league pipeline through BYU?

Utah holds enough assets that they can undoubtedly move up one spot in a swap with Washington. They also benefit from an unusually deep, but clustered top 3. There’d be no way the Wizards would move off the top spot if Wembemyama was sitting there, but Darryn Peterson is more than worthy of a top pick argument himself. But if Dybantsa is hellbent on spending his entire 20’s in Salt Lake City, could he not force his way there himself?

We’re going to find out. We’re going to find out how much one player and team can corroborate a final destination. Then, we should probably go check who’s paying the current crop of 16 year olds.