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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BOSTON, : Shaquille O’Neal of the Orlando Magic drives past Eric Montross of the Boston Celtics 20 March, in Boston, Massachusetts. O’Neal finished with 28 points, with the Magic winning 112-90. AFP PHOTO John MOTTERN/jm (Photo credit should read JOHN MOTTERN/AFP/Getty Images) /

3. Magic Win Back-To-Back Lotteries (1992, 1993)

Just to address the elephant in the room in this regard, I do realize that the Cavaliers also won back-to-back lotteries in 2013 and 2014 in addition to winning three out of four lotteries. However, the fact that they whiffed on one of those picks is really an advantage of looking at this stuff with hindsight. Moreover, the Orlando Magic also did it first when they won the NBA Lottery in back-to-back years in 1992 and 1993.

Orlando finished with the second worst record in the league in the 1991-92 season and won the lottery from there as the weighted lottery system wasn’t in the same structure that it currently is. That allowed them to take a can’t-miss prospect in Shaquille O’Neal, a guy you may have heard of once or twice and may be the most physically dominating presence in the history of the NBA when he came out of LSU.

They made bold moves in 1993 when they vaulted 10 other teams to get the top pick as they traded away Chris Webber for Penny Hardaway and a slew of first round picks in the future. That the Magic ended up with Shaq and Penny is crazy enough, but that they almost made the playoffs and still ended up with back-to-back No. 1 overall picks.

Next: No. 2 The Frozen Envelope

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