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The NBA draft lottery is an annual event where teams that did not make the playoffs in the previous year participate in a lottery process to determine the order of the first several picks in the NBA draft. The NBA draft itself is an annual event dating back to 1947, in which NBA teams draft players to join their organisations. The NBA draft lottery was introduced in 1985 to counter accusations that certain teams were deliberately losing games to increase their chances of obtaining the first pick. The lottery winner gets the first selection in the draft. The lottery is typically held in May, and the draft takes place around a month later.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of ping pong balls | 14 |
| Number of balls drawn | 4 |
| Number of combinations | 1,001 |
| Number of assigned combinations | 1,000 |
| First ball drawn after | 20 seconds |
| Subsequent balls drawn after | 10 seconds |
| Teams with the worst, second-worst, and third-worst records | 140 assigned combinations |
| Teams with the worst, second-worst, and third-worst records chances | 14% |
| Teams that don't receive a top-four pick | Pick awarded based on regular season record |
| Teams with the same record at the end of the regular season | Average number of combinations for the slot they occupy |
| Teams that receive the first overall pick | San Antonio, Philadelphia, and Charlotte in 2025, Atlanta Hawks in 2024 |
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What You'll Learn
The NBA draft lottery process
The NBA draft lottery is an annual event where teams that missed the playoffs the previous year participate in a lottery process to determine the draft order in the NBA draft. The NBA has used a lottery-style process to determine the first several picks of the league's annual draft since 1985. The participating teams and final lottery odds are determined at the conclusion of the regular season.
The lottery is typically held in the first or second round of the NBA Playoffs, during the first or second round of the main playoffs in May. The pool of contestants consists of the teams that failed to qualify for that season's postseason. The winners of the top four picks are determined by the following process, beginning with the first draft pick. Fourteen numbered ping pong balls are placed in a standard lottery machine and four balls are randomly selected one at a time from the lot. The team that has been assigned the combination of the four balls drawn from the machine will receive the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. The ping-pong balls are then placed back in the machine, and the same process is repeated for the second through fourth picks.
A representative from the Ernst & Young accounting firm oversees the entire process. After the drawing, the representative will stuff and seal envelopes for each of the first 14 picks in the lottery with the applicable team's logo. The representative will then bring the envelopes from the drawing room to the studio for the broadcast, escorted by a member of NBA Security. The announcement of the lottery results is made by NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum, who opens the envelopes in reverse order.
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How ping pong balls determine the order
The NBA draft lottery is an annual event where the teams that did not make the playoffs in the past year participate in a state-lottery-style process to determine the order of the first several teams' picks in the draft. The lottery winner gets the first selection in the draft. A lottery pick refers to a draft pick whose position is determined through the lottery, while a non-playoff team involved in the process is often called a lottery team.
The lottery is typically held in the third or fourth week of May, and the draft takes place about a month later. The NBA draft lottery started in 1985, and the first winner was the New York Knicks, who selected Patrick Ewing with their first overall pick.
The lottery is weighted so that the worst-performing teams have the best chance of landing the top pick, as they receive the most combinations. If two teams have the same record at the end of the regular season, they receive the average number of combinations for the slot they occupy. For example, if the 10th and 11th teams have the same number of wins, they would receive 25 combinations each.
The ping pong balls are numbered 1 through 14, and there are 1,001 possible combinations when four balls are drawn out of 14, without regard to their order of selection. Before the lottery, 1,000 of those 1,001 combinations will be assigned to the 14 participating lottery teams. All 14 balls are placed in the lottery machine and mixed for 20 seconds, after which the first ball is drawn. The remaining balls are mixed in the machine for another 10 seconds, and then the second ball is drawn. This process is repeated until all four balls are drawn. The team that has been assigned the combination of the four balls drawn from the machine will receive the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. The ping pong balls are then placed back in the machine, and the same process is repeated for the second through fourth picks.
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How the odds are calculated
The NBA Draft Lottery uses a lottery machine manufactured by the Smart Play Company, which also manufactures state lottery machines across the US. The machine contains 14 ping-pong balls, each numbered from 1 to 14, representing the 14 participating teams. There are 1,001 possible combinations when four balls are drawn out of 14, without considering the order of selection. Before the lottery, 1,000 of the 1,001 combinations are assigned to the 14 teams.
The drawing process involves placing all 14 balls in the machine, mixing them for 20 seconds, and then drawing the first ball. The remaining balls are then mixed for another 10 seconds before the second ball is drawn. This process is repeated until four balls are drawn, determining the first four picks. The rest of the teams then pick in inverse order of their regular-season records.
The odds of winning the lottery are determined by the team's performance in the regular season. In the current system, the teams with the three worst regular-season records each have a 14% chance of winning the lottery. This is a change from the pre-2019 structure, where the top seed had a 25% chance, the second seed had 19.9%, and the third seed had 15.6%.
The odds can also be affected by trades and swaps between teams. For instance, in the Sacramento Kings-Philadelphia 76ers swap, the Kings were indexed as Team_7, and the 76ers as Team_3. This indexing is based on the team's performance, with the previous year's performance also considered.
Additionally, the NBA has made efforts to disincentivize high-loss seasons and tanking by flattening the odds of getting the top pick and increasing the likelihood of the worst teams picking later in the draft.
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The history of the NBA draft lottery
The NBA draft lottery is an annual event where teams that missed the playoffs the previous year participate in a lottery process to determine the draft order. The NBA draft lottery started in 1985, with the lottery winner getting the first selection in the draft.
Before the introduction of the lottery system in 1985, the NBA used a coin-flip system from 1966 to determine the draft order. The worst teams in each conference would participate in a coin flip to decide who would get the first draft pick. However, this system had its drawbacks, as it didn't account for the second-worst team if they were in the same conference as the worst team. This led to accusations of teams deliberately losing games to secure the worst record and a chance at the first pick.
In 1985, the NBA introduced the lottery system to address these issues. The lottery involved drawing envelopes with non-playoff team names to determine the draft order. This system was further refined in 1990 with the introduction of a weighted lottery, giving the team with the worst record a higher chance of obtaining the first pick while decreasing the chances of better teams. The odds for the top seed in the pre-2019 structure were 25%, while the second and third seeds had 19.9% and 15.6% chances, respectively.
In 2019, the NBA changed the lottery odds again, with the bottom three teams having an equal 14% chance of winning the top pick. This change aimed to disincentivize teams from deliberately performing poorly to increase their odds of getting a higher draft pick. The NBA draft lottery continues to evolve, with the 2025 lottery determining the order of selection for the first 14 picks of the draft.
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How the lottery affects the draft itself
The NBA draft lottery is an annual event where the teams who did not make the playoffs in the past year participate in a state-lottery-style process to determine the order of the first several teams' picks in the draft. The lottery winner gets the first selection in the draft. A lottery pick refers to a draft pick whose position is determined through the lottery, while a non-playoff team involved in the process is often called a lottery team.
The lottery is typically held in May, and the draft takes place around a month later. The NBA draft lottery started in 1985, and the first winner was the New York Knicks, who selected Patrick Ewing with their first overall pick. The lottery was introduced to counter accusations that certain teams were purposefully losing to gain a chance to participate in the annual coin flip, where the worst team in each division flipped a coin to determine who would receive the first pick.
In the current lottery setup, 14 ping pong balls are placed in a lottery machine, and four are drawn out at a time. There are 1,001 possible combinations of the four balls (regardless of order), and 1,000 of those combinations are assigned to the 14 teams. The number of assigned combinations is in alignment with the team's odds of winning the lottery. For example, the teams with the worst, second-worst, and third-worst records have 140 assigned combinations (a 14% chance of winning). The ping pong balls are mixed for 20 seconds, and then the first ball is drawn. The remaining balls are mixed in the machine for another 10 seconds, and then the second ball is drawn. This process is repeated for the third and fourth balls. The team with the assigned combination of the four balls drawn will receive the first pick in the draft. The process is then repeated with the same balls for the second, third, and fourth picks.
After the top four positions are selected, the remainder of the first-round draft order is in inverse order of the win-loss record for the remaining teams. The lottery does not determine the draft order in the subsequent round of the draft. The actual lottery drawings are conducted in a separate room just before the national broadcast of the results. Select media, NBA officials, and representatives from the participating teams are in attendance for the drawings.
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Frequently asked questions
The NBA lottery is a method of deciding the order that teams pick players in the draft.
The NBA lottery is weighted so that the worst-performing teams have the best chance of landing the top pick. The NBA uses a lottery machine and numbered ping pong balls to determine picks. There are 1,001 possible combinations of four balls (regardless of order), and 1,000 of those combinations are assigned to the 14 teams.
The balls are placed in the machine and mixed for 20 seconds. Then, the first ball is taken out. The remaining balls are mixed for another 10 seconds before the second ball is taken out. This process is repeated for the third and fourth balls.
