The NBA draft lottery is around the corner will take place on August 20 this year. So, lets take a look at how NBA Draft lottery workthe NBA draft lottery system and the teams eligible for the top picks.
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The NBA draft lottery system has undergone changes over the course of time. In its current format, the three teams with the worst regular season record stand an equal chance of gaining the top pick in the draft.
The fourteen picks not in the playoffs are eligible to bag the top pick in the draft lottery. All the teams are eligible for a second round pick in the inverse order of their regular season record.
When and where to watch the NBA Draft Lottery 2020
The 2020 NBA draft is slated to begin at 8:30 PM ET.
It will be broadcasted on ESPN.
How does NBA Draft Lottery Work?
The top-4 picks are determined by the lottery system in the presence of selected people right before ESPN’s broadcast.Fourteen ping-pong balls numbered 1 through 14 will be placed in a lottery machine and a total of 1001 combinations are possible.Out of those 1001, 1000 are distributed amongst the fourteen teams.
The ping-pong balls are mixed for twenty seconds before the start of each round of pickings. The lottery involves picking up four balls in intervals of ten seconds(mixing period) from the machine and the franchise with the correct combination wins the pick. In case of the combination already picked up earlier or is unassigned, the process will be repeated. The process is repeated for the top 4 picks.
The Warriors, Cavaliers and Timberwolves have the maximum odds with 14% this season. The Hawks, Pistons and Knicks are behind with 12.5%, 10.5% and 9% respectively. The Pelicans and Grizzlies have the lowest odds with chances of 1.2% and 0.5% respectively.
NBA 2020 Draft Lottery Odds (as per NBA.com)
Golden State > 14.00%
Cleveland > 14.00%
Minnesota > 14.00%
Atlanta > 12.50%
Detroit > 10.50%
New York > 9.00%
Chicago > 7.50%
Charlotte > 6.00%
Washington > 4.50%
Phoenix > 3.00%
San Antonio > 2.00%
Sacramento > 1.30%
New Orleans > 1.20%
Memphis > 0.50%
NBA draft overall picks
The teams from 5-30 pick up players in inverse order of their regular season record. All teams then get a pick each from 31-60 in the second round in the inverse order of their regular season record.
Zion Williamson was picked up by the Pelicans last year after winning the draft lottery. The rookie has gone to gain a huge amount of popularity over the course of the year inspite of missing a large part of it. James Wiseman is expected to be the first draft pick this year.
Legends like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Tim Duncan were number one draft picks who went to carve out a brilliant legacy for themselves over the course of their careers.
