The NBA draft lottery is quickly approaching and it can be a bit confusing on how the process works.
For the non playoff teams in the NBA, the NBA draft lottery is one of the most important events of the post season. The peking order of the draft can determine a team’s short term and long term future. With that being said, it can be a bit confusing at times on how the process actually works.
I am here to help clear that up. There are 14 ping pong balls that represent the 14 non playoff teams and they are placed in the lottery machine. And yes, they are all numbered 1-14. Then, the process begins.
Denver Nuggets
The ping pong balls are tossed around in the machine for a good 20 seconds leading to the first drawing. The same thing is then repeated while decreasing the numbers of seconds until four ping pong balls have been drawn which creates a four digit combination which leads to determining which team possesses the first overall pick in the draft.
Basically, whichever team’s number is the last ping pong ball gets to go first in the draft followed by order of the other ping pong balls with their respective teams. So, for example, if Boston’s number is 2 and it is the last one, that means the Celtics would get the first pick. If the Laker’s number is 4 and they and that ball is the second to last one behind Boston’s, then Los Angeles is the second overall pick.
It is rather an elegant process that can be a bit confusing and some have debated is very flawed which has led to some conspiracy theories, but that is a conversation for a different day.
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As of now, this is what the league uses and this is what the fans, teams, coaches and GM’s have to deal with for now.