This article was first published as the Jazz Insiders newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Friday.
The NBA draft lottery will be held in Chicago on Tuesday night, and if you’re wondering how the lottery works, well, you’re in the right place.
A few weeks ago my dad called me and asked if the NBA still used pingpong balls to decide the draft order, and my answer was, “Yes! Though maybe not in the way that you’re thinking.”
The 14 teams that did not make the playoffs are entered into the draft lottery. On the night of the draft, 14 pingpong balls numbered one through 14 are placed in a lottery machine. There are 1,001 possible number combinations when four balls are drawn. Prior to the lottery, 1,000 of the 1,001 combinations are assigned to the 14 lottery teams.
The number of combinations assigned to each team are determined by reverse order of regular-season record. The three teams with the worst records are given 140 number combinations and then the combinations decrease along the way from the team with the fourth worst record to the 14th.
The number of combinations assigned to each team in this year’s draft lottery are as follows: Detroit (140), Houston (140), San Antonio (140), Charlotte (125), Portland (105), Orlando (90), Indiana (75), Washington (60), Utah (45), Dallas (30), Chicago (20), Oklahoma City (15), Toronto (10), New Orleans (5).
Related
The team that was assigned the number combination that matches the first four balls drawn gets the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. The team that was assigned the number combination that matches the next four balls drawn gets the No. 2 pick and this continues through the No. 3 and No. 4 pick.
The remaining lottery teams that did not get a top-four pick continue to pick in inverse order of their regular-season record.
During the drawing, if a team’s number combination is drawn a second time after already being awarded a lottery pick, those balls are reset to draw for a different team. If the 1,001st combination, which was not assigned to a team, is drawn, the balls are reset for another draw.
This whole process takes about 10 minutes and is done in a separate and private room just before the NBA broadcasts the results of the lottery. Inside the…