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NBA Draft Lottery: Which Teams Have The Best Odds To Land Top Pick?

Originally posted on Sportscasting | By Anthony Cardenas | Last updated May 12, 2025 1:18 PM ET

The annual NBA Draft Lottery will take place on Monday night in Chicago. The draft order will be finalized for this year’s selection process, and one team will walk away with the right to select the sensational Cooper Flagg from Duke.

Which teams have the best odds of landing the number one overall pick?

Which Teams Have The Best Odds For The 2025 NBA Draft Lottery?

Due to rule changes a few years back, the team with the worst record doesn’t automatically have the best shot at the top selection. In order to combat teams tanking at the end of the season, the NBA implemented a new format that gives the bottom three franchises an equal shot. That number is set at 14%.

The three worst records during the 2024-25 regular season belonged to the Utah Jazz (17-65), the Washington Wizards (18-64), and the Charlotte Hornets (19-63).

Since the NBA introduced the draft lottery in 1985, the Utah Jazz never have drawn the No. 1 overall pick nor improved their draft standing.

NBA draft lottery tonight. https://t.co/7HXZjp92c2

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 12, 2025

There are two other teams that have greater than a 10% chance of landing the top pick. The New Orleans Pelicans lost their final seven games of the regular season and have a percentage of 12.5%, while the Philadelphia 76ers come in at 10.5%.

One of the teams to keep an eye on is the Brooklyn Nets. They are ranked 6th in terms of Lottery odds, with a 9% chance of boosting up to number one. Should luck find them, they’ll have what could be a historically rich first round, as they own the rights to three other picks within the first 30 in addition to their Lottery selection.

Team	Odds Of #1 Pick	Odds Of Top 4 Pick
Utah Jazz	14%	52.1%
Washington Wizards	14%	52.1%
Charlotte Hornets	14%	52.1%
New Orleans Pelicans	12.5%	48.1%
Philadelphia 76ers	10.5%	42.1%
Brooklyn Nets	9%	37.2%
Toronto Raptors	7.5%	31.9%
San Antonio Spurs	6%	26.3%
Phoenix Suns	3.8%	17.3%
Portland Trail Blazers	3.7%	16.9%
Dallas Mavericks	1.8%	8.5%
Chicago Bulls	1.7%	8%
Sacramento Kings	0.8%	3.8%
Atlanta Hawks	0.7%	3.4%

It doesn’t always work out the way the numbers suggest, though. You only have to go back to last year’s Lottery to find the Hawks making a huge jump up the board. Atlanta had just a 3% chance of landing the top overall selection, but wound up the winners of the Lottery despite finishing the previous season with a 36-46 record.

Another one of the notable recent Lottery jumps took place in 2019. The New Orleans Pelicans had a 6% shot that year, but wound up leapfrogging six other teams during the drawing. They would go on to draft Zion Williamson.

This article first appeared on Sportscasting and was syndicated with permission.

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