Lucky teams: These are the franchises that have won the NBA Draft Lottery the most times

The 2025 NBA Draft Lottery is coming up tomorrow - Monday, May 12. The outcome will determine the selection order for the 14 teams that didn’t qualify for the playoffs. Those with the highest odds of securing the No. 1 overall pick are the Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards, and Charlotte Hornets.

Last year’s draft saw the Atlanta Hawks win the NBA Draft Lottery for the first time since the lottery began in 1985, but it was their fourth time securing the No. 1 overall pick.

NBA teams with the most Draft Lottery wins

Since its inception, only 21 of the 30 NBA teams have won the lottery. There is one team who has won the NBA Draft Lottery more than any of the others - the Los Angeles Clippers have won five lotteries. However, they conveyed two of those to other teams prior to the lottery. The Orlando Magic have won it four times, but conveyed one.

The team with the most first overall picks since the lottery started - including both lottery wins and trades - is the Cleveland Cavaliers, who’ve selected the No. 1 overall pick five times since 1985. The Cavs have had the No. 1 overall pick six times, including once in 1971 as well, which is tied for the most first overall picks of any team with the Washington Wizards. The Wizards, however, have won the lottery only twice. Four of their No. 1 picks came before 1985.

Since the 1985 Draft Lottery began, there are eight teams that have never won the first overall draft pick - either in lottery or in trades: the Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Utah Jazz.

In the 2025 NBA Draft, Duke’s Cooper Flagg is expected to go with the No. 1 overall selection. The draft will be held on June 25 and 26 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

All the NBA No. 1 overall picks since 1947:

Cleveland Cavaliers

No. 1 picks: 6

• 1971: Austin Carr
• 1986: Brad Daugherty 
• 2003: LeBron James
• 2011: Kyrie Irving
• 2013: Anthony Bennett 
• 2014 Andrew Wiggins 

Washington Wizards

No. 1 picks: 6

• 1953: Ray Felix (Baltimore Bullets)
• 1954: Frank Selvy (Baltimore Bullets) 
• 1961: Walt Bellamy (Chicago Packers)
• 1962: Bill McGill (Chicago Zephyrs)
• 2001: Kwame Brown
• 2010: John Wall

Houston Rockets

No. 1 picks: 5

• 1968: Elvin Hayes (San Diego Rockets)
• 1976: John Lucas
• 1983:  Ralph Sampson
• 1984: Hakeem Olajuwon 
• 2002: Yao Ming 

Sacramento Kings

No. 1 picks: 5

• 1956: Si Green (Rochester Royals)
• 1957: Hot Rod Hundley (Cincinnati Royals)
• 1959: Bob Boozer (Cincinnati Royals)
• 1960: Oscar Robertson (Cincinnati Royals) 
• 1989: Pervis Ellison

Atlanta Hawks

No. 1 picks: 4

• 1952: Mark Workman (Milwaukee Hawks) 
• 1955: Dick Ricketts (St. Louis Hawks)
• 1975: David Thompson 
• 2024: Zaccharie Risacher

Milwaukee Bucks

No. 1 picks: 4

• 1969: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 
• 1977: Kent Benson 
• 1994: Glenn Robinson
• 2005: Andrew Bogut

New York Knicks

No. 1 picks: 4

• 1963: Art Heyman
• 1964: Jim Barnes
• 1966: Cazzie Russell 
• 1985: Patrick Ewing

Orlando Magic

No. 1 picks: 4

• 1992: Shaquille O’Neal
• 1993: Chris Webber
• 2004: Dwight Howard
• 2022: Paolo Banchero

Philadelphia 76ers

No. 1 picks: 4

• 1973: Doug Collins
• 1996: Allen Iverson
• 2016: Ben Simmons
• 2017: Markelle Fultz

Portland Trail Blazers

No. 1 picks: 4

• 1972: LaRue Martin
• 1974: Bill Walton
• 1978: Mychal Thompson
• 2007: Greg Oden

Detroit Pistons

No. 1 picks: 3

• 1967: Jimmy Walker
• 1970: Bob Lanier 
• 2021: Cade Cunningham

Golden State Warriors

No. 1 picks: 3

• 1965: Fred Hetzel (San Francisco Warriors)
• 1980: Joe Barry Carroll 
• 1995: Joe Smith 

Los Angeles Clippers

No. 1 picks: 3

• 1988: Danny Manning
• 1998: Michael Olowokandi
• 2009: Blake Griffin

San Antonio SpursNo. 1 picks: 3

• 1987: David Robinson
• 1997: Tim Duncan
• 2023: Victor Wembanyama

Brooklyn Nets

No. 1 picks: 2

• 1990: Derrick Coleman (New Jersey Nets)
• 2000: Kenyon Martin  (New Jersey Nets)

Chicago Bulls

No. 1 picks: 2

• 1999: Elton Brand 
• 2008: Derrick Rose

Los Angeles Lakers

No. 1 picks: 2

• 1958: Elgin Baylor (Minneapolis Lakers)
• 1979: Magic Johnson 
• 1982: James Worthy

Minnesota Timberwolves

No. 1 picks: 2

• 2015: Karl-Anthony Towns
• 2020: Anthony Edwards 

New Orleans Pelicans

No. 1 picks: 2

• 2012: Anthony Davis
• 2019: Zion Williamson

Boston Celtics

No. 1 picks: 1

• 1950: Charlie Share

Charlotte Hornets

No. 1 picks: 1

• 1991: Larry Johnson

Dallas Mavericks

No. 1 picks: 1

• 1981: Mark Aguirre 

Phoenix Suns

No. 1 picks: 1

• 2018: Deandre Ayton

Toronto Raptors

No. 1 picks: 1

• 2006: Andrea Bargnani

Denver Nuggets

No. 1 picks: 0

Indiana Pacers

No. 1 picks: 0

​​Memphis Grizzlies

No. 1 picks: 0

Miami Heat

No. 1 picks: 0

Oklahoma City Thunder

No. 1 picks: 0

Utah Jazz

No. 1 picks: 0

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