These are the teams with the best odds of landing the number 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft
In next month’s Draft Lottery, a trio of NBA franchises will have the highest chance of earning the No. 1 pick.
The Utah Jazz, the Washington Wizards and the Charlotte Hornets are the three teams in pole position to secure the No. 1 pick at this year’s NBA Draft, after finishing the 2024/25 regular season with the worst records in the league.
What are Utah, Washington and Charlotte’s regular-season records?
After a 116-105 defeat to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday, the Jazz closed out the regular season with a 17-65 record - the worst in the NBA this year, and the poorest win-loss ratio in the franchise’s history.
The Wizards - who earlier this year had been on pace for the NBA’s worst ever regular season - finished up on 18-64, after ending a five-game losing streak with 119-118 victory over the Miami Heat on Sunday. It’s the second-lowest win percentage in the team’s history, behind only their 15-67 record in 2023/24.
Meanwhile, the Hornets lost their seventh game on the spin on Sunday - 93-86 to the Boston Celtics - to seal a 19-63 record in 2024/25. It’s the franchise’s least successful regular season since they registered the NBA’s worst ever record in 2011/12, finishing on 7-59 as the Charlotte Bobcats.
What are the NBA’s No. 1 pick odds?
The order of the first 14 picks in the 2025 NBA Draft will be determined at next month’s Draft Lottery.
Involving the 14 teams that don’t make this year’s NBA Playoffs, the Draft Lottery is a weighted ballot that favors the three teams with the very worst regular season records.
The Jazz, the Wizards and the Hornets will each be handed a 14% chance of being awarded the Draft’s first overall selection. The remaining teams in the Draft Lottery will then be given progressively longer odds of drawing the top pick.
2025 NBA Draft Lottery top-pick odds as things stand:
1. Jazz (17-65) - 14%
2. Wizards (18-64) - 14%
3. Hornets (19-63) - 14%
4. Pelicans (21-61) - 12.5%
5. 76ers, pick goes to OKC if 7-14 (24-58) - 10.5%
6. Nets (26-56) - 9.0%
7. Raptors (30-52) - 7.5%
8. Spurs (34-48) - 6.0%
9. Suns, pick goes to Rockets (36-46) - 3.0-%4.5%
10. Trail Blazers (36-46) - 3.0-%4.5%
11. TBC - 2.0%
12. TBC - 1.5%
13. TBC - 1.0%
14. TBC - 0.5%
If two teams finish the regular season with the same record, the NBA explains, “tie-breaking procedures are enacted which can slightly shift the odds”. As you’ll see in the list above, this is the case of the Suns and the Trail Blazers; the franchises’ exact final odds are still to be confirmed.
Who will the final four teams in the Draft Lottery be?
The complete line-up for the NBA Draft Lottery will be confirmed after this week’s Play-In Tournament, in which eight teams will battle it out for the last four spots in the NBA Playoffs.
The four losers from the following Play-In teams, two from each conference, will be added to the Draft Lottery pot:
Eastern Conference:
Orlando Magic (41-41)
Atlanta Hawks (40-42)
Chicago Bulls (39-43)
Miami Heat (37-45)
Western Conference:
Golden State Warriors (48-34)
Memphis Grizzles (48-34)
Sacramento Kings (40-42)
Dallas Mavericks (39-43)
When is the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery?
This year’s NBA Draft Lottery is to take place in Chicago, Illinois, on May 12.
When is the 2025 NBA Draft?
The Draft itself is scheduled for June 25 to 26. Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, has again been chosen as the venue.
Who will be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 Draft?
The top pick is widely expected to be forward Cooper Flagg, who starred for Duke as the Blue Devils reached the Final Four at this year’s March Madness tournament.
In his freshman year in college basketball, Flagg averaged 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists.
In a scouting report for NBA.com, Bleacher Report expert Jonathan Wasserman writes of the 18-year-old: “There’s little left to say about Flagg’s versatility, rapidly-evolving skill level, competitiveness and ability to take games into his own hands.”
Measuring 6ft 9in and 205lbs, Flagg has been named the 2025 Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year, and the winner of the 2025 John R. Wooden Award.
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