Back to the Orlando Magic Newsfeed

How the NBA Draft Lottery Works

Related Topics: NBA draft lottery, Combination

Here is a breakdown of how the NBA Draft Lottery works

The NBA Draft Lottery is a weighted system that determines the order that non-playoff teams (or playoff teams that have acquired a lottery pick from a non-playoff team via prior trade) will select in the draft.

There are 1,000 four-number combinations divvied out to each of the 14 draft lottery teams.

The worse record a team had this past season the more four-number combinations they are given. So, the Boston Celtics, who will have the Brooklyn Nets’ pick this year as part of a prior trade, are allotted the most four-number combinations (250 out of 1,000).