The NBA Draft is nearly here, but before the annual event can take place in June, the top picks must be set up by the 2024 NBA Draft Lottery. Here, you can get everything you need to know about this year’s lottery, including its start time and where to watch.
What time is the 2024 NBA draft lottery?
This year’s NBA Draft Lottery takes place on May 12 — the same as Mother’s Day 2024 — in Chicago, Illinois and will go down at 3 PM ET.
Where can I watch the NBA Draft Lottery?
The annual event will happen right before Game 4 of Knicks vs. Pacers, and air exclusively on ABC.
What is the NBA Draft Lottery?
To avoid the strategy of tanking to land the top overall pick in the draft, the NBA created the lottery in 1985. The annual event that happens a few weeks before the NBA Draft uses a lottery system — complete with ping-pong balls — to randomly select which of the 14 worst teams in the league will get the top four picks.
Also Read: 2024 NBA Draft – Top prospects, date, time, latest NBA Draft order
Who gets the number 1 NBA draft pick?
For the 2024 edition of the NBA Draft lottery, the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards have the best odds to get the top pick at 14%, followed by the Charlotte Hornets with 13.3% and then the Portland Trail Blazers at 13.2%. Below you can find the complete list of odds for all 14 teams in the lottery.
- Detroit 14.0%
- Washington 14.0%
- Charlotte 13.3%
- Portland 13.2%
- San Antonio 10.5%
- Toronto1 9.0%
- Memphis 7.5%
- Utah2 6.0%
- Brooklyn (to Houston) 4.5%
- Atlanta 3.0%
- Chicago 2.0%
- Houston3 1.5%
- Sacramento 0.8%
- Golden State4 0.7
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Team representatives for 2024 NBA lottery
- Hawks – General Manager Landry Fields
- Hornets – Brandon Miller
- Bulls – Julian Phillips
- Pistons – Ausar Thompson
- Warriors – Brandin Podziemski
- Rockets – Head coach Ime Udoka
- Grizzlies – Vice President of Basketball Affairs Tayshaun Prince
- Trail Blazers – Scoot Henderson
- Kings – Keegan Murray
- Spurs – General Manager Brian Wright
- Raptors – Scottie Barnes
- Jazz – Broadcaster Thurl Bailey
- Wizards – Bilal Coulibaly
How does the NBA Draft Lottery work?
The actual lottery takes place in a separate room before the ESPN broadcast begins. Fourteen ping-pong balls numbered 1 through 14 are placed in a lottery machine. There are 1,001 possible four-ball combinations when drawn out of the 1414. Before the NBA Draft lottery, 1,000 of those 1,001 combinations are assigned to the 14 lottery teams.
They are mixed for 20 seconds, and then one ball is removed. The remaining balls are mixed for another 10 seconds and a second ball is drawn. A third ball is removed after a 10-second mix, and then a fourth after another 10-second mix. The team that has been assigned that four-ball combination will receive the No. 1 pick. The process is then repeated for the next three picks.
Also Read: NBA playoff predictions – Bracket picks & 2024 Finals champion
How long is the NBA Draft Lottery?
The reveal of the order for the top 14 picks doesn’t take very long. The broadcast usually lasts 10 to 15 minutes and airs during half-time of an NBA Playoff game.
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What were the results of the 2023 Draft Lottery?
The San Antonio Spurs won the top pick in the 2023 NBA Draft lottery. They would go on to select French phenom Victor Wembanyama in the 2023 NBA Draft. Below are the complete results of last year’s lottery.
- 1. San Antonio
- 2. Charlotte
- 3. Portland
- 4. Houston
- 5. Detroit
- 6. Orlando
- 7. Indiana
- 8. Washington
- 9. Utah
- 10. Dallas
- 11. Chicago (to Orlando)
- 12. Oklahoma City
- 13. Toronto
- 14. New Orleans
List of previous NBA Draft lottery winners
Here is a rundown of the teams that won the last 10 NBA draft lotteries and the players they selected with the No. 1 pick in that year’s draft.
- 2023: San Antonio Spurs – Victor Wembanyama
- 2022: Orlando Magic – Paolo Banchero
- 2021: Detroit Pistons – Cade Cunningham
- 2020: Minnesota Timberwolves – Anthony Edwards
- 2019: New Orleans Pelicans – Zion Williamson
- 2018: Phoenix Suns – Deandre Ayton
- 2017: Boston Celtics – Markelle Fultz
- 2016: Philadelphia Sixers – Ben Simmons
- 2015: Minnesota Timberwolves -| Karl-Anthony Towns
- 2014: Cleveland Cavaliers – Andrew Wiggins
- 2013: Cleveland Cavaliers – Anthony Bennett
What month is the 2024 NBA Draft?
The 2024 edition of the NBA Draft takes place on June 26 (Round 1) and June 27 (Round 2).