Most Shocking NBA Lottery shakeups of all-time

Basketball: NBA Draft Lottery: NBA Commissioner David Stern holding up the envelope with the number one pick in the draft at Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Number one pick goes to the New York Knicks.New York, NY 5/12/1985CREDIT: George Tiedemann (Photo by George Tiedemann /Sports Illustrated/Getty Images)(Set Number: X31488 TK1 R1 F8 ) /

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HOUSTON, UNITED STATES: Yao Ming (C), the Houston Rockets’ overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft, holds up his jersey with head coach Rudy Tomjanavich (R) and Rockets General Manager Carroll Dawson at the Compaq Center in Houston, Texas 20 October, 2002, during a press conference. In June, the Rockets made Yao, 22, the first player from outside the United States selected with the top pick in the NBA Draft. AFP PHOTO/James NIELSEN (Photo credit should read JAMES NIELSEN/AFP/Getty Images) /

12. Rockets Win Yao Sweepstakes (2002)

Coming into the 2002 NBA Lottery, the Houston Rockets had just the fifth best odds to win the lottery. Though that may not seem too bad, they had only an 8.9 percent chance of ending up with the top overall pick in the draft. However, the 89 out of 1,000 chances at the first pick were more than enough for them to end up at No. 1 overall.

Though there were plenty of high quality players out of college—Duke in particular that offered Jay Williams and Mike Dunleavy Jr.—the unquestioned No. 1 pick in the 2002 NBA Draft was Yao Ming out of China. So though the Rockets weren’t exactly setting the world on fire coming out of the 2001-02 season, to have a team that wasn’t the worst in the league getting the chance to add a once-in-a-lifetime talent like Yao was truly shocking.

Again, there was nothing shocking about Yao being take first overall. A player that size with his level of skill is incredibly uncommon in any era of the NBA. However, that the Rockets were able to come out nowhere and win the Yao sweepstakes to get back to relevance was a shock indeed.

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