For struggling NBA teams, it’s the night that can erase a year of misery in mere seconds. No, we’re not talking about the NBA Draft itself, but the moment that decides who gets to make the first call. On May 12, 2025, 14 franchises will hold their breath as ping-pong balls bounce and futures hang in the balance. At stake? The chance to draft a generational talent like Cooper Flagg or Dylan Harper and instantly alter the course of their franchise.

Before the league descends on Barclays Center in June, all eyes will be on Chicago for the NBA Draft Lottery—basketball’s ultimate game of chance, where heartbreak and hope collide behind closed doors. Before that, let’s dive into how the process comes into place! 

How Does The NBA Draft Lottery Work?

Purpose

To put it simply, the NBA Draft Lottery decides the order of the first 14 picks. It happens behind closed doors with NBA officials, team reps, some media members, and folks from the accounting firm Ernst & Young, who make sure everything is fair and square.

Process

Fourteen ping-pong balls, each numbered 1 through 14, go into the lottery machine. Four balls are to be drawn from this. That gives 1,001 possible combinations. And yes, your team’s future could hinge on one of those 1,001 chances! Before the big day, 1,000 of those combos are handed out to the 14 lottery teams. One combination is left unassigned.

As for this machine, the device used in the NBA Draft Lottery is a custom-built Smartplay lottery machine, designed for precision. It’s manufactured by Smartplay International, the same company that supplies lottery machines for many state lotteries across the U.S. They’re also responsible for weighing, measuring, and certifying each ping-pong ball before the draw.

So now, all 14 balls go into the machine. They’re mixed for 20 seconds. Then one ball is drawn. Another 10 seconds of mixing, and a second ball is drawn. The entire process is repeated two more times. And finally, four balls are pulled out in total. The combo they form determines which team gets the number 1 pick.

The process is repeated to determine picks 2 through 4. If a team’s name comes up more than once, it’s tossed out and another combo is drawn. What if an unassigned combo shows up? Well, it’s tossed again. On the other side, a timekeeper is making sure every mix lasts the right amount of seconds, but they’re facing away from the machine and just giving signals. Ernst & Young oversees it all, seals the results in envelopes, and hands them off for the broadcast.

That’s when NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum takes the stage to reveal the results. Each team sends a rep to sit on stage—but none of them (not even Tatum) know the results beforehand. The team in the final envelope? That’s the one walking away with the number 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

Odds

The 14 teams that missed the playoffs get a shot at the No. 1 pick in the draft. Among them, the three teams with the worst records– Utah, Washington, and Charlotte– hold the best odds. Each of them has a 14% chance of landing that top spot. Here’s a breakdown of the draft lottery odds for each team, based on their regular-season standings!

Historical Context

The NBA Draft Lottery, which began in 1985, has become one of the most thrilling events in basketball. And this year, in 2025, we’ll be celebrating the 40th edition of this high-stakes spectacle! Over the years, the lottery has undergone several key changes to make the process even more exciting and fair. One of the biggest shifts happened on September 28, 2017, when the NBA Board of Governors revamped the system to discourage teams from tanking.

Under the new format, which kicked off with the 2019 Draft, the team with the worst record is guaranteed no worse than the fifth pick, whereas, under the old system, the worst team would be assured at least the fourth pick. The changes didn’t stop there! The previous system gave the worst team a 25% chance at the number 1 pick, while the second and third-worst teams had chances of 19.9% and 15.6%, respectively. With the new format, the odds were flattened across the board, making for a more competitive and unpredictable lottery night.

Recent Example

It’s never nice to be part of the “never-won-the-lottery” club, is it? But the Hawks broke that curse in 2024! With just a 3% chance, they defied the odds and landed the number 1 pick, which eventually got them Zaccharie Risacher. Before that historic moment, their best lottery luck had been the number 2 pick in 2005, and the number 3 picks in 2001, 2007, and 2018. The rule changes definitely worked in their favor.

Which teams are in the NBA Draft Lottery 2025?

Fourteen NBA teams will have a shot at landing the No. 1 pick—and the chance to draft Cooper Flagg—when the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery takes place. The above-mentioned team will be part of this year’s drafts. The Jazz, Hornets, and Wizards will enter the lottery with the highest odds of getting the pick, but history has given us enough evidence to suggest that it might not be those three franchises.

When is the NBA Draft Lottery?

The 2025 NBA Draft Lottery is set for Monday, May 12, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. ET in Chicago, Illinois, and will be broadcast live on ESPN. So, make sure to tune in so you won’t miss the excitement as the fate of the 2025 Draft unfolds!