Draft season is officially upon us, folks. The lottery is here and we’ll soon see exactly who is winning the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes.
RELATED: The 14 best teams for Victor Wembanyama, ranked by fit
Each team in the lottery has a chance, but obviously, some have a much better chance than others. The Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs all have a 14% chance to grab that No. 1 overall pick, but we have no idea how this will play out.
Some team might jump up. Some team will inevitably fall down. That’s just how the lottery works. You just have to hope it’s in your team’s favor.
As far as how that goes, here’s how every team currently in the lottery has fared at getting the No. 1 overall pick. Everyone hasn’t been so lucky.
Detroit Pistons
The Pistons last won the lottery in 2021 when the team picked Cade Cunningham with the No. 1 overall pick. They’re hoping for some lotto luck again.
Houston Rockets
The Rockets last won the lottery in 2002 when the team picked Yao Ming No. 1 overall. That worked out pretty well for the Rockets — Yao was an All-Star for every season in his career with the exception of one.
San Antonio Spurs
The last time the Spurs won the lottery was in 1997 when the team picked Tim Duncan No. 1 overall. Five championships later, we see how that worked out.
Charlotte Hornets
The last time Charlotte won the lottery was in 1991 when the team took Larry Johnson No. 1 overall. Technically, though, that was a different team. The Hornets eventually moved to New Orleans and are now the Pelicans.
The new Hornets — who used to be the Bobcats — have never actually won the lottery.
Portland Trail Blazers
The Trail Blazers last won the lottery in 2007 when the team took Greg Oden with the No. 1 overall pick. Oden was a very good player when he was on the court — he just couldn’t stay healthy, unfortunately.
Orlando Magic
The Magic are the most recent winners of the NBA draft lottery, taking Paolo Banchero with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft.
Indiana Pacers
The Pacers are also one of the teams in the NBA that has never won the lottery. The highest pick Indiana has ever gotten is 2nd overall in 1988 when the team took Rik Smits.
Washington Wizards
The Wizards last won the draft lottery in 2010 when the team selected John Wall with the No. 1 overall pick. They haven’t had nearly as much luck since then.
Utah Jazz
Utah has never won the draft lottery either. The highest pick they’ve gotten is 5th overall where they selected Dante Exum in 2014. The Jazz could use a bit of luck this time around.
Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks have also never actually won the draft lottery. Luka Doncic has emerged as the best player from the 2018 draft, but he wasn’t selected until the Mavericks traded up with Atlanta for the 3rd overall pick in the draft.
Chicago Bulls
The last time the Bulls won the lottery was in 2008 when they jumped up to select Derrick Rose. They could use some of that same luck here — if the pick jumps into the top 4 Chicago gets to keep it. Otherwise, it conveys to Orlando from the Nikola Vucevic trade.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Believe it or not, the Oklahoma City Thunder have never actually won the NBA draft lottery despite all the talent the team has had over the years. The best they’ve ever done was No. 2 overall twice with both Kevin Durant and, now, Chet Holmgren last year.
Toronto Raptors
The Raptors last won the lottery in 2006 and Andrea Bargnani was the pick. He eventually turned himself into a solid NBA rotation player, but he definitely wasn’t what the Raptors were looking for at No. 1 overall.
New Orleans Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans last won the NBA lottery in 2019 when the team selected Zion Williamson with the No. 1 overall pick. They were extremely lucky following the Anthony Davis trade.
