Draft Lottery
Further information: NBA Draft LotteryThe lottery selection to determine the order of the top fourteen picks in the 2009 Draft occurred on May 19, 2009. The Los Angeles Clippers won the first pick, while the Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder moved up to second and third picks respectively. The Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards, who had the two best chances to land a top-three pick, fell down to the fourth and fifth spots, the lowest possible picks they could be awarded through the lottery. The remaining first-round picks and all the second-round picks were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win-loss records in the previous season. As is commonplace in the event of identical win-loss records, the NBA performed a random drawing to break the ties on April 17, 2009.
Below were the chances for each team to get specific picks in the 2009 draft lottery, rounded to three decimal places:
| ^ | Denotes the actual lottery results |
| Team | 2008–09 record |
Lottery chances |
Pick | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | |||
| Sacramento Kings | 17–65 | 250 | .250 | .215 | .177 | .358^ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Washington Wizards1 | 19–63 | 178 | .178 | .174 | .164 | .347 | .137^ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Los Angeles Clippers | 19–63 | 177 | .177^ | .173 | .164 | .195 | .250 | .040 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | 23–59 | 119 | .119 | .126 | .132^ | .100 | .350 | .161 | .013 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 24–58 | 76 | .076 | .084 | .095 | — | .263 | .385^ | .093 | .004 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Memphis Grizzlies | 24–58 | 75 | .075 | .083^ | .094 | — | — | .414 | .294 | .039 | .001 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Golden State Warriors | 29–53 | 43 | .043 | .049 | .058 | — | — | — | .600^ | .232 | .018 | .000 | — | — | — | — |
| New York Knicks | 32–50 | 28 | .028 | .033 | .039 | — | — | — | — | .725^ | .168 | .008 | .000 | — | — | — |
| Toronto Raptors | 33–49 | 17 | .017 | .020 | .024 | — | — | — | — | — | .813^ | .122 | .004 | .000 | — | — |
| Milwaukee Bucks | 34–48 | 10 | .010 | .012 | .014 | — | — | — | — | — | — | .870^ | .092 | .002 | .000 | — |
| New Jersey Nets | 34–48 | 9 | .009 | .011 | .013 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | .904^ | .063 | .001 | .000 |
| Charlotte Bobcats | 35–47 | 7 | .007 | .008 | .010 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | .935^ | .039 | .000 |
| Indiana Pacers | 36–46 | 6 | .006 | .007 | .009 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | .960^ | .018 |
| Phoenix Suns | 46–36 | 5 | .005 | .006 | .007 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | .982^ |
^ 1: Washington Wizards' pick was later traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Read more about this topic: 2009 NBA Draft
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