How is the NBA draft order determined? Process, rules, and other details

The NBA draft order is determined by the team’s regular season records from the just completed season. So the team with the worst record has a chance at the first pick and the NBA champion will pick last. The NBA draft is two rounds with each team picking once in each round, unless they trade their picks to other teams.

This season there will be 58 picks instead of 60. The Chicago Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers lost their second-round pick due to violating tampering rules.

Teams can trade their picks on draft night. In the NBA, the original team will select the player and then trade their rights to another team on the night of the draft. Some teams already have the pick traded from previous trades. For example, the Orlando Magic have the Chicago Bulls first-round pick this year which they acquired in the Nikola Vucevic trade.

The top 14 picks are then determined by the lottery. The NBA lottery was just done this week with the San Antonio Spurs winning the number one overall pick.

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How does the NBA lottery work?

The NBA draft lottery determines who gets the first four picks. The remainder of the 14 lottery teams are then put in position by regular season record, with the worst team remaining picking at fifth and the best record picking at 14. The draft lottery comprises the 14 teams that did not make the playoffs.

The lottery system was changed in 2019. The lottery now ensures that the team with the worst regular season record will pick no worse than fifth. The new system also levels the odds.

The team with the worst regular season record is no longer guaranteed to have the best odds for the number one pick. Now the teams with the three worst records all have a 14% chance to secure the number one pick.

There are 14 ping-pong balls placed in the lottery machine and randomly selected. Out of 1,001 possible combinations, four balls are drawn out of 14, irrespective of their order of selection.

The 2023 NBA draft will be on June 22. It takes place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The draft airs on ESPN. The Spurs have the first pick followed by the Charlotte Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets.