CHICAGO – The first lottery ball shoots to the top of the glass drum.
No. 9.
Ten seconds later, the second ball.
No. 12.
Another 10 seconds, the third.
No. 6.
Jim Pitman, the Suns’ executive vice president and chief financial officer, fidgets in his seat. Phoenix has a 25 percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA draft, but all 250 of their combinations – out of a possible 1,001 – had the No. 1 in them.
The higher the number on the lottery balls, the more teams there are in the running.