The Mavericks had the winning numbers. The team with just a 1.8% chance at winning the No. 1 pick won, against virtually all the odds

The NBA Draft lottery is the NBA championship for the league's worst teams. After suffering through a grueling season of losses, luck can finally change with a couple good bounces from the ping pong balls.

Well, the NBA Draft Lottery gods have a sense of humor. So much for the idea of Cooper Flagg going to a 20-win team. Instead, a statistically improbable Dallas Mavericks-San Antonio Spurs-Philadelphia 76ers-Charlotte Hornets top four upended all our previous assumptions about what might happen in the lead-up to the NBA Draft.

The 2025 NBA Draft Lottery takes place on Monday, May 12, and we will finally learn who will be in the driver's seat to land Duke superstar Cooper Flagg, the top prospect in college basketball. Entering the lottery, the Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards, and Charlotte Hornets all have a 14 percent chance to land the No. 1 overall pick.

While the top teams in the Association compete for an NBA championship, the bottom feeders have been awaiting the draft lottery. It doesn't hold the weight that an NBA title does, but the lottery is a major moment for eligible teams.

The NBA draft lottery has been the system used by the NBA to determine its draft order over four decades now. But the timing of its annual unveiling, in the middle of the conference semifinals of the playoffs, also makes it an annual pick-me-up for the ...

The 2025 NBA predraft process officially kicks off Saturday, with an expected 120 players, including Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, Derik Queen, Walter Clayton Jr ., and others, congregating in Chicago for the NBA draft combine, G League Elite Camp, and agency pro days.