How does drafting work in the NBA

The NBA Draft day provides a golden opportunity for teams to secure promising talents and lay the foundation of their success. Likewise, the players experience conflicted feelings on the draft day due to the uncertainty of their destination.

The Draft Day may get the most coverage, but the momentous day of selecting who gets to draft where also carries the same importance. The 2024 NBA Draft Lottery will take place on May 12, in Chicago and will be streamed on ABC (from 3 PM Eastern time).

The Draft Lottery decides the faith of many teams and could be a miracle worker for some and heart wrenching for others. It was implemented in 1985 and since then, only three teams with less than two percent chance have gone on to draft the first overall pick. The list includes the Orlando Magic drafting Chris Webber in 1993, Chicago Bulls drafting Derrick Rose in 2008 and the Cleveland Cavaliers drafting Kyrie Irving in 2014.

NBA Draft Process

The drafting process involves two rounds which also includes a lottery process for the first four picks. The teams that do not qualify for the postseason are allocated lottery picks and go through a mix of emotions during the NBA Draft lottery day.

The teams with the worst regular season records are arranged from first to 14th. The top three teams with the worst regular season record are given the highest chances for the number one overall pick. Their chances regress as you move down to the 14th position.

For example: The teams with the most chances for the first overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft are the Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards and the Charlotte Hornets.

Now all 14 balls are put into the lottery ranking and are mixed for 20 seconds. Each ball is then drawn at a gap of 10 seconds of mixing and after drawing four balls the combinations are checked. The team with the favorable combination is rewarded the first pick and so on until the fourth pick.

There are 1001 combinations out of which one is considered a null combo and if drawn it leads to a redraw or re-selection process. In such cases, the NBA typically conducts a re-draw for that particular pick and the process involves selecting a new combination of numbers until a valid winner emerges.

Now in a circumstance a team at 10th or 12th moves up the board to draft in top four, the rest of the teams above fall one pick down.

For example: In the 2008 NBA Draft, Chicago Bulls were ranked ninth pre-lottery and moved up to first and went on to draft Derrick Rose. They were only given 1.7% chances which led to only 17 combinations out of 1000 and this led to every team above them falling at least one slot down.

After the four picks are alloted the rest of the order is decided on the basis of your regular season record. Teams with the least wins drafts at fifth and the most wins at 30th in the first round.

This continues for the second round and the order is based on regular season record and shifts in the first round don't affect a teams position in the second round. The team with the least wins drafts the 31st overall pick and the team with the most wins drafts the 60th overall pick.