Tag: NBA Draft Lottery

Lottery watch: Magic lose to Hawks, pull even with Thunder in third

The Orlando Magic lost to the Atlanta Hawks, allowing them to tie the OKC Thunder’s NBA draft lottery odds with two games left to play.

Because the Orlando Magic had played one fewer game than the Oklahoma City Thunder entering Thursday, their matchup against the Atlanta Hawks was of the utmost important for OKC.

A Magic win would push them a full game behind the Thunder in the race for the third-best odds in the NBA draft lottery. A loss would make it a tie.

It didn’t take long to be able to tell what was going to happen. Orlando scored just 16 points in the first quarter and fell to the Hawks 116-93.

With the loss, both the Magic and the Thunder have a 21-49 record heading into the final two games of the season for both teams.

They are now tied for the third-best odds, one game below the Detroit Pistons for the second-best and one game above the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves, who are tied at fifth-best.

It is particularly important to remain in the third spot because of the flattened odds. The three teams with the worst records have the same chance of landing the No. 1, 2, 3 or 4 pick.

The Thunder, Magic, Pistons and Cavaliers all play Friday and Sunday while the Timberwolves play Saturday and Sunday.

Oklahoma City plays the Utah Jazz then the Los Angeles Clippers.

Orlando plays the Philadelphia 76ers twice.

Detroit will see the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat, while the Cavaliers will face off against the Washington Wizards and Brooklyn Nets.

The Timberwolves wrap up against the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks.

Thunder lottery check-in: Timberwolves, Pistons battle in seeding chase

The OKC Thunder took back the third-best NBA draft lottery odds with the loss on Monday. Here’s how the reverse standings are shaping up.

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The Oklahoma City Thunder “came back” from a 14-point lead to lose to the Sacramento Kings 122-106 on Tuesday.

With the loss, they regained sole possession of the third-best odds in the NBA draft lottery. Prior to the game, they had been tied with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic.

The Thunder, Cavaliers, Magic, Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons are fighting it out for a top-three lottery spot. Those placements in the lottery have the same odds of landing the No. 1 pick in the draft.

Here’s how the teams’ recent games went:

Thunder: Oklahoma City took back the third spot with the loss to the Kings.

Cavaliers: On Monday, Cleveland fell to the Indiana Pacers 111-102. The Cavaliers led by seven at halftime and were tied midway through the fourth before eventually falling. Their loss briefly tied them with the Thunder in the reverse standings.

Magic: After losing to the Timberwolves on Sunday, Orlando was beat by the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 27 points, 12 rebounds and five assists to lead the Bucks to a comfortable 114-102 win.

This loss allowed the Magic to keep pace with the Cavaliers in the lottery odds.

Pistons vs. Timberwolves: The Timberwolves have done an excellent job beating awful competition as of late. On Tuesday, they took down Detroit 119-110 to move to 8-5 over their last 13 games.

That’s far too good to properly tank. Minnesota now has the sixth-best odds and is 1.5 games below the Thunder.

The Pistons, meanwhile, kept their distance from the group chasing them for the second-best odds.

Here is a rundown relative to the Thunder:

  • Second-best odds: Detroit Pistons, 1.0 games ahead of OKC
  • Third-best odds: Oklahoma City Thunder
  • Tied fourth-best odds: Cleveland Cavaliers, 0.5 games behind OKC
  • Tied fourth-best odds: Orlando Magic, 0.5 games behind OKC
  • Sixth-best odds: Minnesota Timberwolves, 1.5 games behind OKC.

The Thunder have two more games left this season: They will play the Utah Jazz on Friday and the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.

Timberwolves win, give Thunder chance to take sole possession of 3rd-best lottery odds

After the Timberwolves beat the Magic on Sunday, the OKC Thunder can move into sole possession of the third-best NBA lottery odds with a loss.

As the Minnesota Timberwolves picked up the win over the tanking Orlando Magic on Sunday, there was a massive shift in the NBA draft lottery odds.

The Timberwolves, Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder are all tied for the third-best odds. The Thunder are the only team of the four who has yet to play on Sunday. If they lose to the Sacramento Kings, Oklahoma City would have sole possession of the No. 3 spot before the weekend is over.

The flattened odds make the third spot much-coveted. The three teams with the worst records in the NBA will all have a 14% chance of getting the first pick, a 13.42% chance of the second, a 12.75% chance of the third and an 11.97% chance of the fourth pick.

Overall, the teams with the three worst records in the league all have a 52.14% chance of a top-four pick.

The team with the third-worst record has a 14.84% chance of landing at No. 5, a 26% chance of No. 6 and 7.02% chance of No. 7.

Oklahoma City has been surging to the top of the lottery while the Timberwolves have made opposite strides over the past month. Minnesota is a respectable 9-12 since the start of April, while the Thunder are 1-20.

This has caused the Timberwolves to drop from the best odds in the league to a tie with three other teams for the third spot — which means they could end up as far down as No. 6. If they do not get a top-three pick, they would lose it to the Golden State Warriors.

Minnesota has four games left, including one against the Detroit Pistons, who have the second-best odds in the league. The other three games are against the Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks.

The Thunder have a pair of games against the Kings before taking on the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers.

Detroit is one game above the teams tied for third. If the Thunder lose on Sunday, they would be just half a game back of the second-best odds, which give a team a 27.8% chance of pick five and 20.2% chance of pick six.

The Houston Rockets have the best odds in the league. If the draft lottery drops them below pick No. 4, the selection would convert to the Thunder.

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NBA lottery odds: Remaining schedules for teams atop reverse standings

The Detroit Pistons, Minnesota Timberwolves, OKC Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic are fighting for the best NBA lottery odds.

Entering the home stretch of the season, the Oklahoma City Thunder only have five more games to move as far up the NBA draft lottery odds as they can.

On the second-to-last Friday of the season, the Thunder had the fourth-best odds — but two teams were just half a game behind them in the reverse standings.

The 2 through 6 spots in the NBA draft lottery are wide open as the Detroit Pistons, Minnesota Timberwolves, Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic fight for position.

This week, we’ll take a look at the remaining schedule of each team near the top of the reverse standings. There will be a focus on the Thunder, the Houston Rockets and the Miami Heat.

The Rockets’ pick goes to the Thunder if it is not top-4. The Heat’s pick goes to OKC if the Thunder do not receive Houston’s.

Lottery odds are via Tankathon and Wikipedia. Numbers and records are accurate as of Friday morning.

NBA draft lottery history: How the Houston Rockets have fared

The Rockets haven’t moved back in the draft lottery, but they did make one giant leap forward in the draft that netted them Yao Ming.

As the 2020-21 NBA regular season winds down, the biggest prize for the Houston Rockets likely involves maximizing their draft odds.

With 14 games left, the Rockets (15-43) are effectively a lock to have their NBA-leading streak of eight consecutive playoff berths come to an end. That means that for the first time since 2012, the Rockets will be among teams anxiously awaiting the results of the 2021 draft lottery.

For Houston, the stakes are higher than most teams. Due to the Chris Paul-Russell Westbrook trade in July 2019, the Rockets will lose their first-round draft pick to Oklahoma City unless it is in the draft’s top four.

The good news for the Rockets is that as of now, they’re easily among the NBA’s three worst teams by record. If they finish in the bottom three, they would maximize their odds at a top-four pick. The bad news for Houston is that because of the NBA’s revised lottery weighting system — designed to discourage teams from intentionally losing games — the chances of staying in the draft’s top four are only 52.1%, at best.

Effectively, that makes it a virtual coin flip for whether Houston will get a chance to draft a top prospect such as Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, or Jalen Suggs. If Houston doesn’t finish in the top four, Oklahoma City has the right to swap Miami’s draft pick for the Houston one. As of Tuesday, Miami was projected to finish at No. 16, per Tankathon.

With the high stakes of the June 22 draft lottery in mind, here’s a look back at Houston’s previous experiences with the NBA lottery and how the Rockets have fared, relative to the percentage odds at the time. The draft lottery began in 1985, so we are reviewing outcomes from the nine non-playoff seasons completed by the Rockets over that span.

In all, the Rockets have stayed “true to seed” eight times and moved up once. They have never fallen. That’s a trend that Houston would love to continue into 2021, since their final record will almost certainly be within the range (top four) that would have the Rockets retaining their pick.

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NBA reverse standings: Thunder continue to inch up lottery odds as losses mount

The NBA reverse standings show the OKC Thunder creeping up the draft lottery odds on the tail of a losing streak.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have run their losing streak to eight games, placing them in a tie for the fifth-best lottery odds entering Friday’s slate of NBA action.

The Thunder’s odds have improved over recent weeks. At the start of April, Oklahoma City had the ninth-best odds and were within spitting distance of the play-in tournament. Last week, the odds had improved to seventh. Now, OKC is inching closer to the teams with the best odds in the league.

Let’s take the weekly look at the NBA reverse standings with a focus on the Thunder and Houston Rockets, whose pick would go to OKC if it lands outside the top four, and the draft spot of the Miami Heat, whose pick would convey to the Thunder if Houston’s remained in the top four.

Stats come from NBA.com and Basketball Reference while lottery odds are via Tankathon.

NBA standings: Thunder’s lottery odds improving during losing streak

Last week’s release of the lottery standings included Western Conference teams in the running for a play-in spot because the Oklahoma City Thunder were technically among them. That’s no more. In the midst of a five-game losing streak, the Thunder …

Last week’s release of the lottery standings included Western Conference teams in the running for a play-in spot because the Oklahoma City Thunder were technically among them.

That’s no more. In the midst of a five-game losing streak, the Thunder have fallen 4.5 games below the 10th place Golden State Warriors and are officially closer to the Detroit Pistons, who they lost to over the past week.

With the Thunder moving up the lottery odds, let’s take a look at the eight teams within four games of the No. 3 odds. We’ll also peak at the Miami Heat’s week, given as the Thunder may end up owning their pick.

Stats for these Friday roundups come from NBA.com and Basketball Reference, while lottery odds are via Tankathon.

NBA announced lottery, draft dates for 2021 class

The NBA announced the draft and lottery dates for the 2021 offseason. The Thunder will be paying attention to their own pick and that of the Rockets.

The NBA draft lottery will be held on June 22 and the draft itself will be a little more than a month later on July 29, the league announced on Monday.

The lottery will be televised by ESPN at 7:30 p.m. Central Time.

Grab your remote for the draft. The first round will be aired on ESPN and ABC beginning at 7 p.m. Central Time, and the second round will only be held on ESPN.

Oklahoma City Thunder fans will be tuned into the lottery for one of the first times in recent memory. After a long string of playoff runs, the Thunder enter Tuesday with a record of 19-27, the eighth-worst record in the league.

The Thunder also have the rights to the Houston Rockets’ pick if it does not land in the top four. Houston is tied for the second-worst record in the league.

RELATED: Breaking down Thunder’s future draft picks

If the Rockets remain in the top three, they will have a 52.1% chance of keeping their pick and a 47.9% chance of sending it to Oklahoma City.

The Thunder’s odds will likely change in the coming weeks, but if they finish the season in the same place in the standings, they would have a 26.2% chance of jumping into the top four.

There is some excitement for the top of this year’s draft class. Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley and Jalen Suggs have all impressed at the college level, while Jonathan Kuminga and Jalen Green played well in the G League.

This post originally appeared on OKCThunderWire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Everyone was laughing at the Knicks again after the NBA Draft Lottery

LOL, Knicks.

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The New York Knicks used to be one of the most storied franchises in the NBA but now they continue to be one of the biggest laughingstocks and that trend continued Thursday night at the NBA Draft Lottery.

The Knicks went into the night in the No. 6 spot and held out hopes of getting lucky. Since this is the Knicks, though, those hopes were quickly dashed as they had their card pulled at the No. 8 pick. Yup, the Knicks actually fell back in the draft, which is incredible.

This isn’t nearly as bad as last year when the Knicks whiffed in the draft lottery and didn’t get the No. 1 pick and Zion Williamson. They still got the No. 3 pick last year, but that meant they also missed out on Ja Morant.

Now they will have the 8th pick when the draft is held in October (though that date could change) and NBA fans quickly took to Twitter to once again make fun of a team that continues to be easy to be laughed at.

Just look at what happened with the Warriors – they tanked one year and got the No. 2 pick Thursday night. The Knicks have been tanking for what feels like forever and still can’t get lucky.

It’s easy to laugh at the Knicks because they have one of the worst owners in all of sports who really needs to go away. Knicks fans deserve better but it seems like things keep getting worse for them.

Thursday night was another tough one for those fans and it looks like next season will be more of the same.

Thursday’s big winner: Steph Curry’s new look.

Curry was the Warriors’ rep for the draft lottery and he showed up to the broadcast with a new look that stole the show. NBA fans had lots and lots of jokes about it, too.

Quick hits: Bryson DeChambeau has another moment… Keyshawn slams Brennaman… Fantasy football advice… And more!

(Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

– Bryson DeChambeau was not happy about some people making noise during his swing at the Northern Trust Open on Thursday and he let them know about, telling them that “sound travels.”

– Keyshawn Johnson perfectly summed up Thom Brennaman’s use of a homophobic slur.

– Charles Curtis explains why you shouldn’t go ‘Zero RB’ in fantasy football this season.

– Mike Sykes explains why Supreme’s new Mortal Kombat Arcade Cabinet is one of its most ridiculous drops yet.

– A new Drake meme is here for the NBA playoffs.

Steph Curry chimes in with signature ‘Lock in! #dubnation’ tweet before the NBA Draft Lottery

Steph Curry provided his own version of a good luck charm before the NBA Draft Lottery with his signature “Lock in #Dubnation!” tweet.

It’s been a long time since Stephen Curry laced up for the Golden State Warriors. With the two-time Most Valuable Player’s layoff, all the theater surrounding Curry on the basketball court has been missing. The tunnel shot, his famed dribbling routine and his signature pregame tweet.

Although he wasn’t suiting up for the NBA Playoffs in the Orlando Bubble, the six-time All-Star shared a familiar tweet.

On Thursday, Curry served as the Golden State Warriors representative at the NBA Draft Lottery. Before NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum announced the draft order, Curry shared a unique edition of his “Lock in” tweet.

Via @StephenCurry30 on Twitter:

Lock in! #dubnation ….I guess! This is weird, but let’s get it.

When the ping pong balls were set into action, Curry’s tweet provided a proper good luck charm for the Warriors. With a guaranteed spot in the top-five, Golden State ended the lottery landing the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

After the Lottery, the Warriors shared a message featuring their decorated point guard.

Via @warriors on Twitter:

With the Warriors outside of playoff action in the Orlando Bubble, Curry will have to wait for the tip-off of the 2020-21 NBA season for his next opportunity for a signature tweet.

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