The NBA’s regular season is in its final week, with many teams still battling for playoff spots. For the teams that have already been eliminated, there’s also a lot on the line: Increasing their odds of landing the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, aka The Cooper Flagg Sweepstakes.
While the NBA Draft won’t take place until June 25-26, the NBA Draft Lottery is fast approaching. Here’s everything you need to know about the lottery.
2025 NBA Draft Lottery
Date: Monday, May 12
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Current odds to land the No. 1 pick
The 14 teams that do not make the playoffs have a chance to land the No. 1 pick. The teams that finish with the three-worst records will each have the highest odds (14%) at winning the No. 1 pick.
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Here are the odds for every team currently projected to be in the draft lottery, based on team records entering Tuesday’s games. Teams that finish the season with identical records will have their draft order determined by a random drawing.
1. Utah Jazz: 14%
2. Washington Wizards: 14%
3. Charlotte Hornets: 14%
4. New Orleans Pelicans: 12.5%
5. Philadelphia 76ers: 10.5%
The Sixers’ first-round pick is top-6 protected; if it falls between 7-14, it will go to Oklahoma City.
6. Brooklyn Nets: 9%
7. Toronto Raptors: 7.5%
8. San Antonio Spurs: 6%
9. Portland Trail Blazers: 4.5%
10. *Phoenix Suns: 3%
The Suns’ first-round pick will go to the Houston Rockets.
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11. *Miami Heat: 2%
12. *Chicago Bulls: 1.5%
13. *Dallas Mavericks: 1.0%
14. *Sacramento Kings: 0.5%
The Kings’ first-round pick is top-12 protected; if it falls out of that range, it goes to Atlanta.
* The Suns, Heat, Bulls, Mavs and Kings are currently in the mix for play-in tournament spots and could potentially make the playoffs.
How the NBA Draft Lottery works
The draft lottery determines the order of the first 14 picks. It takes place in a private room with NBA officials, representatives of participating teams, select media and the accounting firm Ernst & Young, which oversees the drawings, in attendance.
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For the drawings, 14 ping-pong balls (numbered 1 through 14) are dropped in a lottery machine. Before the lottery, 1,000 of a possible 1,001 combinations are assigned to the 14 participating lottery teams. A league representative randomly selects four balls, revealing a four-number combination.
From the NBA:
The drawing process occurs in the following manner: All 14 balls are placed in the lottery machine and they are mixed for 20 seconds, and then the first ball is removed. The remaining balls are mixed in the lottery machine for another 10 seconds, and then the second ball is drawn. There is a 10-second mix, and then the third ball is drawn. There is a 10-second mix, and then the fourth ball is drawn. The team that has been assigned that combination will receive the No. 1 pick. The same process is repeated with the same ping-pong balls and lottery machine for the second through fourth picks.
If the same team comes up more than once, the result is discarded and another four-ball combination is selected. Also, if the one unassigned combination is drawn, the result is discarded and the balls are drawn again.
After the first four picks are determined, the remaining picks are based on regular-season records, in reverse order.
2025 NBA Draft Guide
Check out Kevin O’Connor’s latest mock draft, and read up on scouting reports for every single prospect in the 2025 NBA Draft Guide.
Read the full article here
