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 determined 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. As it is commonplace in the event of identical win-loss records, the NBA performed a random drawing to break the ties on April 18, 2008.
The lottery was held on May 20, 2008, in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Chicago Bulls, who had the ninth-worst record, won the lottery with just a 1.7% chance to win. The Miami Heat and Minnesota Timberwolves, with the worst and third-worst records, respectively, won the second and third picks.
Below were the chances for each team to get specific picks in the 2008 draft lottery, rounded to three decimal places:
| ^ | Denotes the actual lottery results |
| Team | 2007–08 record |
Lottery chances |
Pick | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | |||
| Miami Heat | 15–67 | 250 | .250 | .215^ | .177 | .358 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Seattle SuperSonics | 20–62 | 199 | .199 | .188 | .171 | .319^ | .124 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 22–60 | 138 | .138 | .142 | .145^ | .238 | .290 | .045 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Memphis Grizzlies | 22–60 | 137 | .137 | .142 | .145 | .085 | .323^ | .156 | .013 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| New York Knicks | 23–59 | 76 | .076 | .084 | .095 | — | .262 | .385^ | .093 | .004 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Los Angeles Clippers | 23–59 | 75 | .075 | .083 | .094 | — | — | .414 | .294^ | .039 | .001 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Milwaukee Bucks | 26–56 | 43 | .043 | .049 | .058 | — | — | — | .600 | .232^ | .018 | .000 | — | — | — | — |
| Charlotte Bobcats | 32–50 | 28 | .028 | .033 | .039 | — | — | — | — | .725 | .168^ | .006 | .000 | — | — | — |
| Chicago Bulls | 33–49 | 17 | .017^ | .020 | .024 | — | — | — | — | — | .813 | .122 | .004 | .000 | — | — |
| New Jersey Nets | 34–48 | 11 | .011 | .013 | .016 | — | — | — | — | — | — | .870^ | .089 | .002 | .000 | — |
| Indiana Pacers | 36–46 | 8 | .008 | .009 | .012 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | .908^ | .063 | .001 | .000 |
| Sacramento Kings | 38–44 | 7 | .007 | .008 | .010 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | .935^ | .039 | .000 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 41–41 | 6 | .006 | .007 | .009 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | .960^ | .018 |
| Golden State Warriors | 48–34 | 5 | .005 | .006 | .007 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | .982^ |
Read more about this topic: 2008 NBA Draft
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