Draft Lottery
Further information: NBA Draft LotteryThe first 14 picks in the draft belonged to teams that had missed the playoffs; the order was determined through a lottery. The lottery would determine the three teams that would obtain the first three picks on the draft. The remaining first-round picks and the second-round picks were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win-loss record in the previous season. On April 20, 2007, the NBA performed a tie-breaker to determine the order of the picks for teams with identical win-loss record.
The lottery was held on May 22, 2007 in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Portland Trail Blazers, who had the seventh-worst record in the previous season, won the lottery with just a 5.3% chance to win. This was the fourth time that the Blazers had the first overall draft pick and the first time that the Blazers won the draft lottery since it was introduced in 1985. The Seattle SuperSonics, who had the fifth-worst record, and the Atlanta Hawks, who had the fourth-worst record, obtained the second and third pick respectively.
Three teams who had the worst records—the Memphis Grizzlies, the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks—obtained the fourth, fifth and sixth pick respectively. These were the lowest possible picks they could have obtained through the lottery. The most recent draft in which the three worst teams did not receive the top three picks was in 1993.
Below were the chances for each team to get specific picks in the 2007 Draft Lottery, rounded to three decimal places:
| ^ | Denotes the actual lottery results |
| Team | 2006–07 record |
Lottery chances |
Pick | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | |||
| Memphis Grizzlies | 22–60 | 250 | .250 | .215 | .178 | .357^ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Boston Celtics | 24–58 | 199 | .199 | .188 | .171 | .319 | .123^ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Milwaukee Bucks | 28–54 | 156 | .156 | .157 | .156 | .226 | .265 | .041^ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Atlanta Hawks1 | 30–52 | 119 | .119 | .126 | .133^ | .099 | .350 | .161 | .013 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Seattle SuperSonics | 31–51 | 88 | .088 | .097^ | .107 | — | .261 | .359 | .084 | .004 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 32–50 | 53 | .053 | .060 | .070 | — | — | .439 | .331^ | .046 | .001 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 32–50 | 53 | .053^ | .060 | .070 | — | — | — | .572 | .226 | .018 | .000 | — | — | — | — |
| Charlotte Bobcats | 33–49 | 19 | .019 | .022 | .027 | — | — | — | — | .725^ | .196 | .011 | .000 | — | — | — |
| New York Knicks2 | 33–49 | 19 | .019 | .022 | .027 | — | — | — | — | — | .784^ | .143 | .005 | .000 | — | — |
| Sacramento Kings | 33–49 | 18 | .018 | .021 | .025 | — | — | — | — | — | — | .846^ | .087 | .002 | .000 | — |
| Indiana Pacers3 | 35–47 | 8 | .008 | .009 | .012 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | .907^ | .063 | .001 | .000 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | 35–47 | 7 | .007 | .008 | .010 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | .935^ | .039 | .000 |
| New Orleans Hornets | 39–43 | 6 | .006 | .007 | .009 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | .960^ | .018 |
| Los Angeles Clippers | 40–42 | 5 | .005 | .006 | .007 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | .982^ |
^ 1: Atlanta Hawks' pick would be conveyed to the Phoenix Suns if it was not in the top three.
^ 2: New York Knicks' pick was conveyed to the Chicago Bulls.
^ 3: Indiana Pacers' pick was conveyed to the Atlanta Hawks because it was not in the top ten.
Read more about this topic: 2007 NBA Draft
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