It became a meme at the end of the regular season: A Venn diagram of two circles: teams who made the playoffs or play-in fell inside one circle, with teams in the NBA Draft Lottery in the other. Some teams in the slim middle section of the overlapping circles were lucky to make the postseason and still have a lottery pick from a trade with a lottery-bound squad.
The Phoenix Suns sat alone as the only team outside either circle altogether.
The draft lottery at 4 p.m. MST Monday will determine where the Rockets could pick with the Suns’ selection, which has the ninth-best odds because of the Suns’ 36-46 regular season record.