NBA Draft Lottery 2015: Past winners and results
By Josh Hill
The NBA Draft Lottery is tonight, but who has won in the past and did it mean a franchise revival of any sort?
Winning the No. 1 pick in the NBA Drat gives you the pick of the litter when it comes to picking the best college player in the country or the best international player in the world. But it doesn’t mean that player is going to pan out and change your franchise for the better.
There has been a lot of conspiracy theories over the years as to why certain teams won, and you can clearly see where that all comes from when looking at the past winners and when they won the lottery.
Here’s a look at the complete NBA Draft Lottery winners and the players they took with the No. 1 pick the received.
| Year | Team | Previous season record | Lottery chances | Probability | Player selected |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | New York Knicks | 24–58 (3rd-worst) | — | 14.29% | Patrick Ewing |
| 1986 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 32–50 (7th-worst) | — | 14.29% | Brad Daugherty |
| 1987 | San Antonio Spurs | 28–54 (4th-worst) | — | 14.29% | David Robinson |
| 1988 | Los Angeles Clippers | 17–65 (Worst) | — | 14.29% | Danny Manning |
| 1989 | Sacramento Kings | 27–55 (6th-worst) | — | 11.11% | Pervis Ellison |
| 1990 | New Jersey Nets | 17–65 (Worst) | 11 (out of 66) | 16.67% | Derrick Coleman |
| 1991 | Charlotte Hornets | 26–56 (5th-worst) | 7 (out of 66) | 10.61% | Larry Johnson |
| 1992 | Orlando Magic | 21–61 (2nd-worst) | 10 (out of 66) | 15.15% | Shaquille O’Neal |
| 1993 | Orlando Magic | 41–41 (11th-worst) | 1 (out of 66) | 1.52% | Chris Webber |
| 1994 | Milwaukee Bucks | 20–62 (2nd-worst) | 163 (out of 1000) | 16.30% | Glenn Robinson |
| 1995 | Golden State Warriors | 26–56 (5th-worst) | 94 (out of 1000) | 9.40% | Joe Smith |
| 1996 | Philadelphia 76ers | 18–64 (2nd-worst) | 200 (out of 593)[d] | 33.73% | Allen Iverson |
| 1997 | San Antonio Spurs | 20–62 (3rd-worst) | 157 (out of 727)[d] | 21.60% | Tim Duncan |
| 1998 | Los Angeles Clippers | 17–65 (3rd-worst) | 157 (out of 696)[d] | 22.56% | Michael Olowokandi |
| 1999 | Chicago Bulls | 13–37[e] (3rd-worst) | 157 (out of 1000) | 15.70% | Elton Brand |
| 2000 | New Jersey Nets | 31–51 (7th-worst) | 44 (out of 1000) | 4.40% | Kenyon Martin |
| 2001 | Washington Wizards | 19–63 (3rd-worst) | 157 (out of 1000) | 15.70% | Kwame Brown |
| 2002 | Houston Rockets | 28–54 (5th-worst) | 89 (out of 1000) | 8.90% | Yao Ming |
| 2003 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 17–65 (T-Worst) | 225 (out of 1000) | 22.50% | LeBron James |
| 2004 | Orlando Magic | 21–61 (Worst) | 250 (out of 1000) | 25.00% | Dwight Howard |
| 2005 | Milwaukee Bucks | 30–52 (6th-worst) | 63 (out of 1000) | 6.30% | Andrew Bogut |
| 2006 | Toronto Raptors | 27–55 (5th-worst) | 88 (out of 1000) | 8.80% | Andrea Bargnani |
| 2007 | Portland Trail Blazers | 32–50 (6th-worst) | 53 (out of 1000) | 5.30% | Greg Oden |
| 2008 | Chicago Bulls | 33–49 (9th-worst) | 17 (out of 1000) | 1.70% | Derrick Rose |
| 2009 | Los Angeles Clippers | 19–63 (2nd-worst)[f] | 177 (out of 1000) | 17.70% | Blake Griffin |
| 2010 | Washington Wizards | 26–56 (5th-worst) | 103 (out of 1000) | 10.30% | John Wall |
| 2011 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 32–50 (8th-worst) | 28 (out of 1000) | 2.80% | Kyrie Irving |
| 2012 | New Orleans Hornets | 21–45 (T-3rd-worst) | 137 (out of 1000) | 13.70% | Anthony Davis |
| 2013 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 24–58 (3rd-worst) | 156 (out of 1000) | 15.60% | Anthony Bennett |
| 2014 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 33–49 (9th-worst) | 17 (out of 1000) | 1.70% | Andrew Wiggins |
New York winning the first ever lottery is the most infamous conspiracy case, but other instances include the Bulls winning in 1999 and 2008, the Cleveland Cavaliers winning three out of the four years they didn’t have LeBron James — not to mention Cleveland winning the year LeBron James entered the draft.
Overall though, it’s not a guarantee that winning the NBA Draft Lottery is going to secure your future, as the Cavaliers won LeBron James and still have no titles, while the Clippers have had one No. 1 pick pan out in Blake Griffin.
Meaningless players like Kwame Brown, Michael Olowokandi and Greg Oden all went No. 1 overall and are talked about thanks to the superstars who were taken after them.
So where can you catch the NBA Draft Lottery and when will all of the action go down? We have all the information you need to know about right here.
Date: Tuesday, May 19th
Start Time: 8:30pm ET
Venue: Barclays Center
TV Channel: ESPN
Live Stream: Watch ESPN
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