1) Philadelphia 76ers, 1986

The first NBA Draft Lottery in 1985 sparked one of the biggest controversies in league history when David Stern supposedly rigged the process in favor of the Knicks. But the Knicks had finished the ’84-’85 season with the third worst record in the NBA, so they moved up only two spots, hardly a stunning result. The second lottery actually featured an arguably even more egregious upheaval. The aging 76ers were still a legit title contender in ’85-’86, finishing with 54 wins and coming up just short of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. They held a lottery pick in the subsequent draft thanks to a 1979 trade with the Clippers and benefitted greatly from the format at the time, in which each lottery team was granted an equal 14.29% chance of winning the #1 spot. This was also beneficial to the 67-win, reigning champion Celtics, who nabbed the #2 pick thanks to a 1984 trade with the SuperSonics. The reason you don’t hear about this lottery as a controversy as big as 1985 is because there was no surefire top pick a la Patrick Ewing. In fact, the Sixers were so disinterested in all the top prospects that they exchanged the #1 pick for Roy Hinson from the Cavaliers, who used it on Brad Daugherty. (Meanwhile, the Celtics held firm at #2 and used the pick on Len Bias, who died just two days later from a cocaine overdose). This was just the beginning for a Sixers team that is arguably one of the luckiest in draft lottery history. Philly has jumped into the top three from fourth or lower six times, which is the record. They’ve also never dropped out of the top three, holding their position all four times they had it, which is also the all-time record.

2) Orlando Magic, 1993

The Draft Lottery was conceived as a mechanism for discouraging tanking and the original design specifications reflected that attitude. Every non-playoff team was given equal odds (14.29%) of winning every pick, an unpredictable format that was maybe a little too unstable, sowing chaos as described above. The league started tweaking in 1987, limiting the lottery selections to just the first three picks, with the remaining order based on the team’s record from the previous season. Another factor was the lottery becoming must see TV and as a beacon of hope for the league’s worst teams, drifting further every year from its original intention. Commissioner David Stern threw in the towel on tanking deterrence in 1990, adjusting the odds to be weighted based on the team’s record from the prior season. But telling the Magic they had long odds was apparently just telling them they still had a chance. Orlando just missed out on the playoffs in ’92-’93 and had the lowest opportunity in the 1993 lottery, at just 1.52%. But the envelope opened to reveal the Magic at #1, for the second straight season after selecting Shaquille O’Neal in 1992. Rather than pair top pick Chris Webber with Shaq, the Magic ultimately traded down on draft day with the Warriors for Penny Hardaway and three future picks. Beyond just the Magic touch of Orlando, the 1993 lottery was additionally notable for the teams with the best odds, Dallas, Minnesota and Washington, all falling out of the top three of the draft entirely.

3) Golden State Warriors, 1995

Was the 1995 NBA Draft Lottery proof of god existing? Ok, maybe that’s an exaggeration but the results and considerations may give atheists pause. Then Warriors owner Chris Cohan was certainly a true believer. Following a disastrous first season in charge, in which he clashed with and eventually fired popular head coach Don Nelson, then traded away young star Chris Webber for pennies on the dollar, Cohan turned to his holiest friend, Father Peter Colapietro. A notable Catholic priest who officiated Cohan’s wedding, Colapietro fulfilled his pal’s request by saying a prayer for the Warriors in the upcoming lottery. In for a penny, in for a pound, Cohan furthermore invited Colapietro to represent the Warriors at the lottery event. And, well, it all worked. Despite having the fifth best odds at 9.4%, the Warriors leapfrogged four teams to land the top pick. Cohan and new general manager Dave Twardzik went and screwed it up anyway, overlooking Rasheed Wallace, Jerry Stackhouse, and Kevin Garnett to use the pick on Joe Smith, an ultimately serviceable but unspectacular player that was traded away less than three years later.

4) New Jersey Nets, 2000

When the 2000 NBA Draft Lottery took place, the Nets had no coach, no general manager, and were coming off their second consecutive losing season. Things turned around in a hurry for the moribund franchise, starting with landing the #1 overall pick despite coming into the lottery with only a 4.4% chance. While New Jersey was bad in ’99-’00, they weren’t dreadfully bad, finishing with a 31-51 record, the seventh worst in the league. Compare to that the Bulls, who won just 15 games in ’99-’00 but fell to the fourth pick of the draft. Nets owner Lewis Katz pumped his fist in the air in celebration and then got to work, hiring a new general manager in Rod Thorn, hiring Byron Scott as head coach, using that top pick on Kenyon Martin, who was ultimately the only good player out of a historically weak draft class, and acquiring Jason Kidd from the Suns via trade. Just two years after this draft lottery stroke of luck, the Nets were one of the best teams in the NBA, on their way to the first NBA Finals appearance in franchise history.

5) Houston Rockets, 2002

In the last NBA Draft before the lottery system was instituted, the Rockets won a coin flip for the top pick and used it on Hakeem Olajuwon. 18 years later, a pre-draft luck of the draw again put Houston in position to land an international big man with potential to reshape the franchise. From the moment he declared his eligibility, there was no doubt China’s Yao Ming would be the #1 pick in the 2002 draft. The lowly Bulls and Warriors held the highest share of draft lottery balls (each had 22.5% odds) but fell to the second and third picks respectively. Houston came in with just 8.9% odds of winning the top spot but moved up four positions to nab it. While Yao ultimately fell well short of Olajuwon’s impact, he was still a great NBA player who spent nine seasons all with Houston. Yao certainly had a better NBA career than second overall pick Jay Williams, who went to Chicago and played just one season before retiring due to injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident. By the way, this marked the 12th consecutive NBA Draft Lottery in which the team with the best odds didn’t land the top pick. The streak was finally broken one year later by the Cavaliers, who won the rights to draft LeBron James.

6) Milwaukee Bucks, 2005

It took seven years for the Bucks to make an appearance in the NBA Draft Lottery, first participating in 1992. They actually dropped in the order that year, from seventh to eighth, but have since leapfrogged to the top spot from outside the top three twice, a mark that only the Pelicans match. The first instance was in 1994, when Milwaukee landed Glenn Robinson, and in 2005 they scored again, moving up to the top from sixth, defying odds of just 6.3%. On hand to rep the franchise was general manager Larry Harris, grasping a “lucky” fishing lure that had been gifted to him by a fan. Things played out for the Bucks pretty similarly to how they did in 1994, when Robinson blossomed into a solid player but was far outpaced by the two men picked after him, Jason Kidd and Grant Hill. This time Milwaukee grabbed Utah center Andrew Bogut, who spent seven decent but unspectacular seasons with the franchise, an output well below the #3 pick that year, Deron Williams, and the #4 choice, Chris Paul.

7) Portland Trail Blazers, 2007

With a seemingly loaded incoming class, headlined by Kevin Durant and Greg Oden, tensions were high for the 2007 NBA Draft Lottery and tempers flared when the unexpected went down. For just the second time in the weighted odds era (after 1993), the three teams with the highest lottery percentages all fell out of the top three. This left the Grizzlies, Celtics, and Bucks with the fourth, fifth, and sixth picks, respectively. Jumping ahead to take their place were the Blazers, with the seventh worst record, moving up to #1, the Sonics (fifth worst record) to #2, and the Hawks (fourth worst record) to #3. This so incensed Grizzlies general manager Jerry West that he openly called on David Stern to abolish the lottery system (losing gracefully was never West’s strong suit). It was Portland’s first and only lottery win and it made up for their disappointment one year prior, when they fell from the #1 spot to the #4 pick. Of course, the top two teams were essentially cursed following this lottery. The Blazers opted for Oden, who wound up playing just parts of two seasons due to various injuries. Meanwhile, the Sonics landed an all-time great in Durant but it did nothing to help Seattle keep the franchise, as they relocated to Oklahoma City just a year later. In fact, despite West’s protestations, the Grizzlies arguably made out the best of anyone in this draft, nabbing future franchise legend Mike Conley with the fourth pick.

8) Chicago Bulls, 2008

For the first time in a while, David Stern and the NBA came out of the 2008 Draft Lottery facing accusations of rigging the process. How else can you explain the #1 pick going to the Bulls, who finished with the ninth worst record in the league and had just 1.7% odds of winning? It was the second longest odds for a lottery winner in the event’s history (behind only the Magic in 1993) and granted Chicago the opportunity to land local hero Derrick Rose, who had starred at Simeon Career Academy on the city’s South Side before matriculating at Memphis. It was certainly welcome news for a Bulls franchise that had just suffered a dismal ’07-’08. They came into that season considered potential title contenders and ended it with two fired coaches and a 33-49 record. Rose made an instant impact, winning Rookie of the Year while leading the Bulls right back into the playoffs. Falling from #1 to #2 was tough on the Heat, who wound up with the ultimately disappointing Michael Beasley. But dropping from the #2 spot to #4 was arguably a blessing in disguise for the Thunder, who used that pick on Russell Westbrook.

9) Cleveland Cavaliers, 2011
10) Cleveland Cavaliers, 2014

When LeBron James stunned the city of Cleveland in 2010 by signing with the Heat, the response was immediate and belligerent. Fans burned his jersey in effigy, police consolidated security around his Akron home, and Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert posted a scathing rebuke on the team’s website. But for the first time in the long, wretched sports history of Cleveland, a cursed event was followed by prolonged karmic retribution. It started in the spring of 2011, when the Cavaliers held two lottery tickets thanks to a trade with the Clippers. Thus, the surprise in that lottery was not necessarily the Cavaliers landing the top spot but doing so with that Clippers pick, which had only the eighth best odds, at 2.8%. Meanwhile, the Cavs’ own pick, which had the second best odds at 19.9% fell to fourth, with the Nets leapfrogging them into the top three. Cleveland won the lottery again in 2013, moving up from #3 to #1, but the real shocker was in 2014. Despite having only the ninth best odds, the Cavs were the recipients of an unprecedented third lottery win in a four year stretch. After grabbing likely Hall of Fame inductee Kyrie Irving in 2011 and all-time bust Anthony Bennett in 2013, the Cavs essentially split the difference with Andrew Wiggins in 2014. Just a couple weeks after that draft, James announced that he was returning to Cleveland to sign as a free agent. The Cavs were subsequently able to package Bennett, Wiggins, and a future first rounder to the Timberwolves in exchange for Kevin Love, setting the stage for a run of four consecutive Finals appearances and a title in 2016. At 2.8% and 1.7% respectively, the Cavs’ 2014 and 2011 lottery wins were the third and fourth most unlikely in history. An incredible run of luck that completely overhauled the franchise’s fortunes.

11) New Orleans Pelicans, 2019

Aside from the Cavaliers and 76ers, whom we detailed above, the two luckiest teams in NBA Draft Lottery history have to be the Spurs and Pelicans. They are the only franchises to jump into the #1 spot multiple times (three for San Antonio, two for New Orleans) just as a generational talent was waiting at the top of the incoming draft class. But their paths are divergent from there, with the Spurs building one dynasty around top picks David Robinson and Tim Duncan and have possibly another incoming with Victor Wembanyama. Meanwhile the Pelicans have found only disappointment and heartbreak. Their first big win was in 2012, when New Orleans (then the Hornets) moved up from #4 to #1 in the lottery, granting them the rights to pick Anthony Davis. There’s no doubting Davis’ instant NBA superstar status but it didn’t do the Pels much good, with just two brief playoff appearances in his seven seasons on the roster. Just as a disgruntled Davis was asking for a trade, the Pelicans made an even more unlikely lottery leap, defying 6.0% odds to move from #7 to #1 in the 2019 draft. This allowed them to draft Zion Williamson with the top pick and start a rebuild by subsequently trading Davis to the Lakers in exchange for a package of young players and three future first rounders. But the Williamson-New Orleans pairing has also proved unsuccessful, with the undeniably talented power forward struggling with injuries and weight issues and still looking for his first taste of NBA playoffs experience at six seasons and counting.

12) Atlanta Hawks, 2024

In yet another effort to combat tanking, the NBA tweaked the draft lottery rules again in 2019, re-aligning the odds to be more evenly distributed amongst all participating teams and expanding the picks awarded via lottery from three to four. In every draft since, the team with the worst record has failed to land the top pick. The Pistons benefitted in 2021, moving from second to first and drafting Cade Cunningham, but the new regulations have been a complete disaster for them ever since, slipping at least two spots in the order for three straight lotteries. The most egregious example is obviously 2023, when the Pistons fell from first to fifth in the order, missing out on Victor Wembanyama. But the more stunning leapfrog was 2024, when the Hawks became only the second team ever (after the 1993 Magic) to move up to #1 from 10th or lower. Even with the new odds system it was a monumental break for Atlanta, the fifth most unlikely #1 pick win ever in terms of percentage odds, at 3.0%. Meanwhile, the hapless Pistons dropped from first to fifth, marking the first time ever that a team had fallen from #1 to outside the top three in consecutive lotteries.

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