With only eight teams left in the 2024-25 NBA season, the rest of the league is already eyeing the future, starting with the draft lottery on May 12 in Chicago. Fourteen teams will be hoping the ping-pong balls bounce their way.
Over the last few decades, the NBA Draft has undergone numerous changes and adjustments to create a balanced and fair format for teams. One major shift has been to the draft lottery system, which determines the order in which NBA teams select the first 14 picks.
How Does the NBA Draft Lottery Work?
The NBA Draft, which will take place on June 25 and 26, will consist of two rounds with 30 picks in each round. There will be 59 total picks this year as the New York Knicks will lose their second-round pick due to a tampering investigation.
The first 14 picks in the NBA draft lottery determine the order in which teams will pick. Over the years, the system has been tweaked and fine-tuned. One aim was to prevent teams from tanking late in the season.
The lottery will consist of the 14 teams that missed the postseason. Only the first 14 picks will be decided, with the remainder (15-60) set by the team’s 2024-25 win percentage in reverse order.
Each of the 14 lottery teams is assigned a percentage based on their season record, with teams with worse records having a greater chance of pulling a higher pick.
Odds for the No. 1 Pick in the 2025 NBA Lottery
The following teams will take part in Monday’s lottery, and below is the breakdown of each team’s percentage for the No. 1 pick:
- Utah Jazz – 14%
- Washington Wizards – 14%
- Charlotte Hornets – 14%
- New Orleans Pelicans – 12.5%
- Philadelphia 76ers -10.5%
- Brooklyn Nets – 9.0%
- Toronto Raptors – 7.5%
- San Antonio Spurs – 6.0%
- Phoenix Suns – 3.8%
- Portland Trail Blazers – 3.7%
- Dallas Mavericks – 1.8%
- Chicago Bulls – 1.7%
- Sacramento Kings – 0.8%
- Atlanta Hawks – 0.7%
Lottery Format Breakdown
The way the drawings work is that ping-pong balls will be assigned to each team and chosen by a lottery machine to select the first four picks. The remaining teams will be assigned picks Nos. 5-14 based on season standings, but in reverse order.
Picks No. 15-30 will be assigned based on season records, but in reverse order. The second round (picks 30-59) will be based solely on where teams finished during the regular season in reverse order.
Per a rule change approved before the 2019 lottery, the lowest pick the NBA team with the worst season record can obtain is the No. 5 overall pick.
