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Playing the Lottery

The NBA Draft Lottery determines the order of selection for the top 13 picks of the first round of the NBA Draft. The team with the worst record in the regular season has the most chances for the #1 pick while the team with the best record among the non-playoff teams has the least number of chances. With the Nuggets and Cleveland Cavaliers finishing in a tie for the league's worst record, the two teams will split the chances of the last place team (225 balls each rather than 250 and 200). In the event that neither the Nuggets nor the Cavs wins one of the first three picks in the Lottery, Denver will select fourth and Cleveland fifth, as the result of a random drawing to break the tie.

The NBA's 2003 NBA Draft Lottery will be held on Thursday, May 22 at 6 p.m. MT at the NBA Entertainment Studios in Secaucus, NJ. For the first time in the history of the event, the NBA Draft Lottery will be a 30-minute television show, aired nationally by ABC. NBA Draft 2003 will be held Thursday, June 26, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City

The odds for each team in the lottery are found below.

LOTTERY ODDS
Team 2002-03 Record Chances of 1000 1st Pick 2nd Pick 3rd Pick
Denver Nuggets 17-65 225 22.50% 20.30% 17.63%
Cleveland Cavaliers 17-65 225 22.50% 20.30% 17.63%
Toronto Raptors 24-58 157 15.70% 15.80% 15.66%
Miami Heat 25-57 120 12.00% 12.68% 13.39%
L.A. Clippers 27-55 89 8.90% 9.75% 10.78%
Memphis Grizzlies (1) 28-54 64 6.40% 7.20% 8.23%
Chicago Bulls 30-52 44 4.40% 5.05% 5.91%
Atlanta Hawks (2) 35-47 29 2.90% 3.37% 4.02%
New York Knicks 37-45 15 1.50% 1.77% 2.14%
Washington Wizards 37-45 14 1.40% 1.65% 2.00%
Golden State Warriors 38-44 7 0.70% 0.83% 1.01%
Seattle SuperSonics 40-42 6 0.60% 0.71% 0.87%
Houston Rockets 43-39 5 0.50% 0.59% 0.73%
Footnotes:
(1) Pick may be conveyed to Detroit
(2) Pick may be conveyed to Milwaukee


The order for the remainder of the first round picks is as follows:

14. Milwaukee (3)
15. Orlando
16. Boston
17. Phoenix
18. New Orleans
19. Utah
20. Philadelphia (To Boston)
21. Indiana (To Atlanta)
22. New Jersey
23. Portland
24. LA Lakers
25. Detroit (4)
26. Minnesota
27. Sacramento (To Memphis via Orlando)
28. San Antonio
29. Dallas

Footnotes:
(3) Pick may be conveyed to Seattle
(4) Pick may be conveyed to Sacramento, via Philadelphia, Houston and Atlanta

2003 SECOND ROUND DRAFT CHOICE ORDER

30. Cleveland (5)
31. Denver (To New York) - along with Antonio McDyess in exchange for Mark Jackson, Marcus Camby and draft rights to Nene Hilario (6/26/02)
32. Toronto (To L.A. Lakers)
33. Miami
34. LA Clippers
35. Memphis (To Milwaukee or to Seattle via Milwaukee)
36. Chicago
37. Atlanta
38. Washington
39. New York
40. Golden State
41. Seattle
42. Orlando (6)
43. Milwaukee (7)
44. Houston
45. Phoenix (To Chicago)
46. Boston (To Denver) - along with Shammond Williams in exchange for Mark Blount and Mark Bryant
47. Utah
48. New Orleans
49. Indiana
50. Philadelphia (8)
51. New Jersey
52. LA Lakers (To Toronto)
53. Detroit (To Miami or to Chicago via Miami)
54. Portland
55. Minnesota
56. Sacramento
57. Dallas (9)
58. San Antonio (To Detroit)

Footnotes:
(5) Pick may be conveyed to Toronto
(6) Pick may be conveyed to Atlanta
(5) Pick may be conveyed to Seattle
(6) Pick may be conveyed to Detroit
(5) Pick may be conveyed to Chicago via Miami

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