Amidst all the enjoyment that onlookers of the Playoffs have felt, it’s time to look to next season — whenever that’ll start — and declare who will officially hear their name called out for the grace of the first selection in this year’s NBA Draft during the NBA Draft Lottery, starting today, August 20, at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. This lottery will begin just a half-hour before Game 2 of Laker-Blazers tips off at 9 p.m. ET.
While the teams inside the bubble are battling for a championship, the teams outside of it have been making the preparations for a better 2020-21 campaign than the one they had this season, evident in them not being one of the 22 teams invited to the Lake Buena Vista bubble in Disney Springs.
Though under different circumstances and not in person due to the whole COVID-19 thing, this will be the first-ever virtual draft lottery. As to how it will go, the league won’t fix what’s broken as NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum will announce the order of who will pick from 14th to 1st overall by plucking ping-pong balls from a bowl, just like he has every year.
For this season’s lottery draft, there are a lot of storylines left on the table awaiting their fate. Here are just a few:
Possible first-and-second-overall picks LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards’ potential destination, the sleeping giant Golden State Warriors who have a high probability of continuing their dynasty with the addition of a high first-rounder, the San Antonio Spurs having to hear their name announced as a lottery pick team for the first time since 1997, and shockingly unpredictable odds that leverage the opportunity to land the first overall pick for everyone.
The amenity of landing the first-overall pick is a franchise-changing experience for both fan and executive, and the golden ticket of a pick is known to bump the morale of an organization overnight. So what lucky franchise will be granted that chance tonight?
With that said, we’ll let you know about all of the information you need about tonight’s draft lottery, as well as the odds for each team and if they’ll be in the middle of the pack for picks, or at the top of the mountain with the first selection.
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How To Watch
As mentioned earlier, the draft lottery will begin at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN, 30 minutes before the Los Angeles Lakers look to tie the series against the Portland Trail Blazers at 9 p.m. ET on the same channel. You can also catch it on the ESPN App.
The show will feature a combination of players and organizational members posing as representatives from all 14 lottery teams, including two-time MVP and 3-time NBA champion Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, former second-overall pick and All-Star D’Angelo Russell of the Minnesota Timberwolves and another former first-rounder De’Aaron Fox of the recently-outed-from-the-bubble Sacramento Kings.
The NBA Draft will be held on October 16 and will be shown on both ESPN and the ESPN app.
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This Year’s Lottery Odds
Last season, the NBA began drawing the top four selections in the lottery with new odds for each slot. These are some things to know about these odds:
- The teams with the three worst records have the same odds for both the No. 1 pick (14%) and staying in the top four (52%).
- The team with the worst record has a 47.9% chance to fall to No. 5. The lowest a team could fall under the old system was to No. 4 — there was previously just a 35.7% chance of that happening.
- Teams in Slots 9 through 6 have a 20-37% chance of jumping into the top five. Previously, that range was 6-22%.
Here’s a quick look at the odds for every team with a chance to win a top pick this year, per ESPN and the NBA’s official odds:
1. Golden State Warriors
- Average pick: 3.7
- No. 1: 14%
- Top three: 40.1%
2. Cleveland Cavaliers
- Average pick: 3.9
- No. 1: 14%
- Top three: 40.1%
3. Minnesota Timberwolves
- Average pick: 4.1
- No. 1: 14%
- Top three: 40.1%
4. Atlanta Hawks
- Average pick: 4.4
- No. 1: 12.5%
- Top three: 36.6%
5. Detroit Pistons
- Average pick: 5.0
- No. 1: 10.5%
- Top three: 31.6%
6. New York Knicks
- Average pick: 5.5
- No. 1: 9.0%
- Top three: 27.6%
7. Chicago Bulls
- Average pick: 6.2
- No. 1: 7.5%
- Top three: 23.4%
8. Charlotte Hornets
- Average pick: 7.0
- No. 1: 6.0%
- Top three: 19.0%
9. Washington Wizards
- Average pick: 8.0
- No. 1: 4.5%
- Top three: 14.5%
10. Phoenix Suns
- Average pick: 9.2
- No. 1: 3.0%
- Top three: 9.9%
11. San Antonio Spurs
- Average pick: 10.3
- No. 1: 2.0%
- Top three: 6.6%
12. Sacramento Kings
- Average pick: 11.9
- No. 1: 1.3%
- Top three: 4.3%
13. New Orleans Pelicans
- Average pick: 12.1
- No. 1: 1.2%
- Top three: 4.0%
14. Memphis Grizzlies
- Average pick: 13.7
- No. 1: 0.5%
- Top three: 1.7%
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