NBA Draft Lottery Decides Champion's Potential Future Star: 14 Balls Stand Between a Team and Claiming First Pick Overall
Every Monday around 6 p.m. EDT, NBA execs gather, phones confiscated, behind closed doors, as 14 ping-pong balls bounce inside a contraption. The balls are numbered, one will be drawn, then another, until they reveal the lucky team bagging the coveted No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft.
This exciting event, the NBA draft lottery, unravels Monday night in Chicago. The winner scoring the No. 1 overall spot means big things for Duke's Cooper Flagg—possibly his future home set by the time the lottery's over.
Mark Tatum, deputy commissioner, holds the honors of being the bearer of news, keeping everyone guessing until he makes the official announcement. No insiders know the outcome until Tatum speaks up.
The chase for the top spot
Thirteen teams battle it out for the No. 1 pick. Utah, Washington, and Charlotte lead the pack with 14% chances each.
New Orleans, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Toronto, and San Antonio follow, with 12.5%, 10.5%, 9%, 7.5%, and 6.7% chances respectively. The competition thickens from there: Houston (3.8%), Portland (3.7%), Dallas (1.8%), Chicago (1.7%), and Sacramento (0.8%).
Atlanta's odds are conveyed to San Antonio, meaning the Spurs are in the game twice—with a 6% chance of winning on their own and an 0.7% chance to secure the first pick with the Hawks' ping-pong balls.
This system, in place since 2019, is a move to steer clear of tanking—the practice where teams lose games on purpose, hoping for a shot at the No. 1 draft pick.
The teams with the three shoddiest records share an equal chance—14%—of nabbing the top spot, and odds drop gradually for the remaining lottery contenders.
Possible rankings
Utah can't drop below fifth, Washington can't fall below sixth, Charlotte can't sink lower than seventh, and New Orleans stays afloat above eighth.
If Philadelphia's pick lands in the top six, they keep it; if not, it heads to Oklahoma City, with seventh, eighth, or ninth in play. Brooklyn, Toronto, San Antonio, Houston, Portland, Dallas, Chicago, and Sacramento all have a shot at clawing their way into the top four. The odds, though, aren't in their favor—Brooklyn has a 37% chance, while Sacramento has only about a 4%.
Remaining spots
The lottery only shuffles the order for the first 14 picks. The rest—picks 15-30—are determined by regular-season record, even though some have been traded aplenty over the years.
As of now, the rest of the first round appears like this: Oklahoma City at No. 15, Orlando at No. 16, Minnesota at No. 17, Washington at No. 18, Brooklyn at No. 19, and Miami at No. 20. Following are Utah (21), Atlanta (22), Indiana (23), Oklahoma City (24), Orlando (25), Brooklyn (26 and 27), Boston (28), Phoenix (29), and the Los Angeles Clippers (30).
Stay tuned, NBA fans, for an exciting Monday night as the first step towards rebuilding and revitalizing your teams unfolds!
- The Toronto Raptors, along with Phildelphia, Brooklyn, New Orleans, and San Antonio, are among the teams vying for a high NBA draft pick.
- The competition for the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft is fierce, with Utah, Washington, and Charlotte leading the pack with 14% chances each.
- The results of the NBA draft lottery, taking place in Chicago, will determine the future of promising basketball players, such as Duke's Cooper Flagg, as the No. 1 overall pick could shape their professional careers.
