2022 NBA Draft Lottery Primer

The 2022 NBA draft lottery will take place on Tuesday night prior to Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Heat and Celtics. The half-hour event will be broadcast on ESPN beginning at 7:00 pm central time.

This year’s draft pool features a group of four prospects generally considered by experts to be a level above the rest of the class: Chet Holmgren, Jabari Smith Jr., Paolo Banchero, and Jaden Ivey. Teams that move into the top four on Tuesday night will have the opportunity to snag one of those potential future stars.

Here’s what you need to know heading into tonight’s lottery:

Pre-Lottery Draft Order:

The top 14 picks in the 2022 NBA draft would look like this if tonight’s lottery results don’t change the order:

1. Houston Rockets
2. Orlando Magic
3. Detroit Pistons
4. Oklahoma City Thunder
5. Indiana Pacers
6. Portland Trail Blazers
7. Sacramento Kings
8. New Orleans Pelicans (from Lakers)
   • Note: The Grizzlies will receive this pick if it falls to No. 11 or No. 12.
9. San Antonio Spurs
10. Washington Wizards
11. New York Knicks
12. Oklahoma City Thunder (from Clippers)
13. Charlotte Hornets
14. Cleveland Cavaliers

For the full pre-lottery draft order, click here.

Draft Lottery Odds:

The Rockets, Magic, Pistons, and Thunder have the best odds to land the No. 1 pick. Each of those four teams has a 14.0% chance to pick first overall.

Typically, only the top three teams in the lottery standings would have a 14.0% shot at the No. 1 overall pick, but the Thunder join that group by virtue of holding two lottery picks — there’s a 12.5% chance that their own pick will move up to No. 1 and a 1.5% chance the Clippers’ pick, which they also control, will be No. 1.

From there, the Pacers (10.5%), Trail Blazers (9.0%), Kings (7.5%), and Pelicans (6.0%) have the best odds to receive the first overall pick.

For the full draft lottery odds for all 14 spots, click here.

Trades Affecting The Draft Lottery:

The Clippers and Lakers are the only non-playoff teams that have traded away their lottery picks this year, and neither team put protections on its traded first-rounder.

The Thunder will receive the Clippers’ pick, as detailed above.

The Lakers’ pick technically still remains up for grabs, depending on the lottery results, due to a trade between New Orleans and Memphis. Here are the details on that deal:

Pelicans/Grizzlies

The Pelicans will acquire the Lakers’ pick if it lands in the top 10, while the Grizzlies will receive it if it ends up at No. 11 or 12.

Since the Lakers finished eighth in the lottery standings, there’s approximately a 99.5% chance that New Orleans will hang onto the pick. At least three teams in the 9-14 range would have to jump into the top four in order for Memphis to receive it.

Draft Lottery Representatives:

The representatives for each of this year’s lottery teams are as follows, according to a pair of announcements from the NBA:

1. Houston Rockets
   • On stage: Rafael Stone (general manager)
     
   • Lottery room: Clay Allen (general counsel)
2. Orlando Magic
   
   • On stage: Jeff Weltman (president of basketball operations)
   • Lottery room: Joel Glass (chief communications officer)
3. Detroit Pistons
   
   • On stage: Richard Hamilton (former Pistons player)
     
   • Lottery room: George David (assistant GM)
     
4. Oklahoma City Thunder
   
   • On stage: Nick Collison (former Thunder player / special assistant to GM)
   • Lottery room: Sam Presti (executive VP / general manager)
5. Indiana Pacers
   
   • On stage: Kelly Krauskopf (assistant GM)
   • Lottery room: Chad Buchanan (general manager)
6. Portland Trail Blazers
   
   • On stage: Damian Lillard
   • Lottery room: Dewayne Hankins (president of business operations)
7. Sacramento Kings
   
   • On stage: Domantas Sabonis
     
   • Lottery room: John Kehriotis (minority owner)
     
8. New Orleans Pelicans
   
   • On stage: Swin Cash-Canal (VP of basketball operations)
   • Lottery room: David Griffin (executive VP of basketball operations)
     
9. San Antonio Spurs
   
   • On stage: David Robinson (former Spurs player / strategic partner)
   • Lottery room: Niraj Mulji (director of basketball strategy)
10. Washington Wizards
    
    • On stage: Wes Unseld Jr. (head coach)
      
    • Lottery room: Tommy Sheppard (president of basketball operations / general manager)
11. New York Knicks
    • On stage: William Wesley (executive VP / senior basketball advisor)
      
    • Lottery room: Brock Aller (VP of basketball and strategic planning)
12. Charlotte Hornets
    • On stage: P.J. Washington
    • Lottery room: David Duquette (assistant GM)
13. Cleveland Cavaliers
    
    • On stage: Anderson Varejao (former Cavaliers player / team ambassador)
    • Lottery room: Jon Nichols (VP of basketball strategy and personnel)

Lottery Format:

This will be the fourth year that the NBA uses its revamped lottery system, which reduces the odds that the league’s very worst teams will land a top pick and makes the top four selections available via the lottery, instead of the top three.

Before the NBA changed its lottery format, there was a 60.5% chance that one of the league’s bottom three teams would secure the No. 1 pick, and only a 27.6% chance that a team in the 5-14 range of the lottery standings would do so. Now, those odds are 42.0% and 45.5%, respectively.

The results since the new format was implemented have shown that the smoothed-out odds have the potential to create a little more mayhem on lottery night.

In 2019, the Pelicans, Grizzlies, and Lakers claimed three of the top four picks despite ranking seventh, eighth, and 11th, respectively, in the lottery standings. In 2020, the Hornets and Bulls each moved up four spots, from Nos. 7 and 8 to Nos. 3 and 4, respectively.

A year ago, the results were more by-the-numbers. However, the seventh spot in the lottery standings was lucky again, this time for the Raptors, who moved up to No. 4 and grabbed eventual Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes.

For full details on the revamped lottery format, click here.