4 NBA Teams Have The Best Lottery Odds

The 2022 NBA Draft lottery Tuesday night will determine the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft. A handful of the 13 teams eligible have the best chance to get the top selection.

The teams that had the three worst records in the regular season are given the best odds to win the lottery. As the only teams to win fewer than 24 games, the Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons all have a 14% chance to win the lottery.

The Oklahoma City Thunder techincally have a 14% chance to get the No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft, as well. The NBA’s fourth-worst record gives the Thunder a 12.5% chance to win the lottery with their own first-round pick. Oklahoma City owns the Los Angeles Clippers’ first-round pick because of the Paul George trade from three years ago. That selection has a 1.5% chance of being the draft’s top pick.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers are the only teams that missed the playoffs and can’t get the No. 1 pick. The Lakers sent their first-rounder to the New Orleans Pelicans when L.A. traded for Anthony Davis. After pushing the Phoenix Suns to six games in the first round of the playoffs, the Pelicans have a 6% chance of winning the lottery.

New Orleans won the 2019 draft lottery with a 6% chance. The Pelicans selected Zion Williamson with the No. 1 overall pick.

In each of the last two years, a team with a 14% chance to win the lottery has earned the No. 1 pick. Detroit selected Cade Cunningham first in the 2021 draft. Anthony Edwards went to the Minnesota Timberwolves atop the 2020 draft.

The Indiana Pacers are fifth with a 10.5% chance to win the lottery. The Portland Trail Blazers have a 9.5% chance.

Indiana is in the lottery for just the third time since 2011. Portland last missed the playoffs in 2013.

The Sacramento Kings have a 7.5% chance to win the lottery. Sacramento is a mainstay in the lottery with an NBA-worst 16-year playoff drought.

The Charlotte Hornets are next with six straight seasons without a trip to the postseason, followed by the Cleveland Cavaliers’ three-year playoff drought. Charlotte only has a 1% chance to win the lottery. Cleveland’s 0.5% chance is the worst of any lottery team.

The San Antonio Spurs (4.5%), Washington Wizards (3%) and New York Knicks (2%) all have poor odds to win the lottery.

The 2014 Cavaliers and 2008 Chicago Bulls were the biggest longshots to win the lottery, doing so with a 1.7% chance of getting the No. 1 pick. Cleveland won the 2011 lottery, despite only having a 2.8% chance.

The Knicks haven’t had the No. 1 pick since winning the first-ever lottery in 1985 and drafting Patrick Ewing.

Photo: Getty Images/Joe Murphy