2009 NBA Draft Lottry Quick Facts

May 19, 2009
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2009 Draft Central
QUICK FACTS
  • The Wizards have 178 chances out of 1,000 to get the first overall pick in the draft (17.8 %)
  • Sacramento has the most chances with 250, the LA Clippers have the third-most with 177 (Washington finished with the same record as the Clippers and won a tiebreaker to get the extra chance)
  • The Wizards have a 51.7% chance of landing a pick somewhere in the top three (including a 17.4% chance of landing the second pick and a 16.5% chance of landing the third pick), a 34.7% chance of landing the fourth pick and a 13.7% chance of landing the fifth pick
  • The lowest the Wizards could pick is fifth
  • The Wizards will also hold either the 32nd or 33rd overall pick (second round) depending on what happens in the lottery (if the Clippers finish ahead of the Wizards, Washington will pick 32nd; if the Wizards finish ahead of the Clippers, Washington will pick 33rd)
  • Lottery will take place on Tuesday, May 19 at NBA Studios in Secaucus, NJ
  • It will air live on ESPN with coverage beginning at 8:00 p.m.
  • The on-stage participant will be head coach Flip Saunders

    LOTTERY PROCEDURE
    Fourteen 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 order of selection for the teams that do not win one of the top three picks will be determined by inverse order of their regular season record. Thus, Sacramento can pick no lower than fourth, Washington (19-63) no lower than fifth and the L.A. Clippers (19-63) no lower than sixth.

    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.

    Following the drawing, team logo cards will be inserted into envelopes marked 1 through 14 by an Ernst & Young representative. These envelopes then will be sealed and brought on-stage, where the announcement of the Lottery results will be made by NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver. A second representative from each participating team will be seated on-stage. Neither the Deputy Commissioner nor the team representatives will be informed of the Lottery results prior to the opening of the envelope.