NBA Draft

NBA Draft Lottery: Odds, Tiebreakers, Key Dates

May 31, 2021

The beginning stages of the 2021 NBA Draft are underway, starting with the annual lottery, slated for June 22.

This marks the third straight year of the new lottery system with weighted odds — as each of the bottom three teams has an equal chance to win the No. 1 overall pick.

Six teams finished the regular season with identical records, leading the league to determine tiebreakers via random drawings on May 25.

The Thunder (22-50) won a tiebreaker with the Cavaliers.
The Bulls (31-41) won a tiebreaker with the Pelicans and Kings. Second and third place in the tiebreaker drawings went to Sacramento and New Orleans, respectively.
The Hornets (33-39) won a tiebreaker with the Spurs.

Below are the complete lottery odds:

Team	Record	Top 4	No. 1 Pick
1	Houston Rockets	17-55	52.1%	14.0%
2	Detroit Pistons	20-52	52.1%	14.0%
3	Orlando Magic	21-51	52.1%	14.0%
4	Oklahoma City Thunder	22-50	45.1%	11.5%
5	Cleveland Cavaliers	22-50	45.1%	11.5%
6	Minnesota Timberwolves → Golden State Warriors*	23-49	37.2%	9.0%
7	Toronto Raptors	27-45	31.9%	7.5%
8	Chicago Bulls → Orlando Magic*	31-41	20.3%	6.0%
9	Sacramento Kings	31-41	20.3%	4.5%
10	New Orleans Pelicans	31-41	20.3%	4.5%
11	Charlotte Hornets	33-39	8.5%	4.5%
12	San Antonio Spurs	33-39	8.0%	1.8%
13	Indiana Pacers	34-38	4.8%	1.7%
14	Golden State Warriors	39-33	2.4%	0.5%

Minnesota’s pick owed to Golden State is top-three protected
Chicago’s pick owed to Orlando is top-four protected

NBA Key Dates

May 30: Deadline for an early entry player to apply for this year’s Draft (11:59 p.m. ET)
June 21-27: NBA Draft Combine
July 19: Deadline for an early entry player to withdraw from the NBA Draft (5:00 p.m. ET)
July 29: 2021 NBA Draft
Aug 8-17: MGM Resorts NBA Summer League 2021 (Las Vegas)