2008 NBA Draft Lottery odds

The 2008 NBA Draft lottery will take place on Tuesday, May 20 in the NBA Entertainment Studios in Secaucus, N.J. Ping-pong balls numbered 1 through 14 will be placed in a drum. There are 1,001 possible combinations when four balls are drawn out of 14, without regard to their order of selection. Prior to the Lottery, 1,000 combinations will be assigned to the 14 participating Lottery teams by a computer. Four balls will be drawn to the top to determine a four-digit combination. The team that has been assigned that combination will receive the number one pick. The four balls are placed back in the drum and the process is repeated to determine the number two and three picks. (Note: If the one unassigned combination is drawn, the balls are drawn to the top again.) The actual Lottery procedure will take place in a separate room prior to the national broadcast with NBA officials and representatives of the participating teams and the accounting firm of Ernst & Young in attendance. The following table shows how many ping-pong balls each team will have in the hopper (for example, the Pacers will have eight) as well as the odds of securing each of the 14 lottery picks (for example, the Pacers have a .908 chance, or 90.8 percent, of staying at No. 11).

	Team
	(chances/1000)	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
1	Heat (250)	0.250	0.215	0.177	0.358	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Sonics (199)	0.199	0.188	0.171	0.319	0.124	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	T-Wolves (138)	0.138	0.142	0.145	0.238	0.290	0.045	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Grizzlies (137)	0.137	0.142	0.145	0.085	0.323	0.156	0.013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Knicks (76)	0.076	0.084	0.095	0	0.262	0.385	0.093	0.004	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	Clippers (75)	0.075	0.083	0.094	0	0	0.414	0.294	0.039	0.001	0	0	0	0	0
7	Bucks (43)	0.043	0.049	0.058	0	0	0	0.600	0.232	0.018	0	0	0	0	0
8	Bobcats (28)	0.028	0.033	0.039	0	0	0	0	0.725	0.168	0.008	0	0	0	0
9	Bulls (17)	0.017	0.020	0.024	0	0	0	0	0	0.813	0.122	0.004	0	0	0
10	Nets (11)	0.011	0.013	0.016	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.870	0.089	0.002	0	0
11	PACERS (8)	0.008	0.009	0.012	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.908	0.063	0.001	0
12	Kings (7)	0.007	0.008	0.010	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.935	0.039	0
13	Blazers (6)	0.006	0.007	0.009	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.960	0.018
14	Warriors (5)	0.005	0.006	0.007	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.982