For the sixth (and hopefully ultimate) 12 months in a row, the Spurs are part of the NBA Draft Lottery. It has definitely paid off, as all however one among their 5 lottery picks — Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, Victor Wembanyama (ROY) and Stephon Citadel (ROY) — are nonetheless with the Spurs and have the potential to be long-term items for them, and this 12 months they’ve two lottery picks in a really deep class, headlined by Duke ahead Cooper Flagg. Right here is how one can watch and all it is advisable know.
Methods to watch
When: Monday, Might 12, 2025, 6:00 PM CT
The place: ESPN
How does the lottery work?
You’ll be able to learn the complete course of at NBA.com, however right here is the gist of it:
Fourteen ping-pong balls numbered 1 via 14 will probably be positioned in a lottery machine. There are 1,001 doable combos when 4 balls are drawn out of 14, with out regard to their order of choice. Earlier than the lottery, 1,000 of these 1,001 combos will probably be assigned to the 14 collaborating lottery groups. The lottery machine is manufactured by the Sensible Play Firm, a number one producer of state lottery machines all through the USA. Sensible Play additionally weighs, measures and certifies the ping-pong balls earlier than the drawing.
The drawing course of happens within the following method: All 14 balls are positioned within the lottery machine and they’re combined for 20 seconds, after which the primary ball is eliminated. The remaining balls are combined within the lottery machine for one more 10 seconds, after which the second ball is drawn. There’s a 10-second combine, after which the third ball is drawn. There’s a 10-second combine, after which the fourth ball is drawn. The staff that has been assigned that mixture will obtain the No. 1 decide. The identical course of is repeated with the identical ping-pong balls and lottery machine for the second via fourth picks.
Common Supervisor Brian Wright would be the Spurs’ illustration contained in the lottery draw room, and new head coach Mitch Johnson will symbolize the Spurs on stage.
What picks do the Spurs personal, and what are their odds?
The Spurs personal their very own first spherical decide and the Atlanta Hawks’, which was acquired by way of the Dejounte Murray commerce. (They’d protected rights to the Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls’ first spherical picks, however they have been each traded away when the Spurs acquired De’Aaron Fox again in February, and neither would have convey as first spherical picks to the Spurs this season in any case.) Forward of the lottery, their very own decide at the moment holds the eighth greatest odds of being picked first, whereas the Hawks’ decide sits at 14th after shedding a coinflip to the thirteenth place Kings in a tie-breaker.
Listed here are the percentages that every staff within the lottery will decide high general:
Utah Jazz (17-65) regular-season file): 14%
Washington Wizards (18-64): 14%
Charlotte Hornets (19-63): 14%
New Orleans Pelicans (21-61): 12.5%
Philadelphia 76ers (24-58): 10.5%
Brooklyn Nets (26-56): 9%
Toronto Raptors (30-52): 7.5%
San Antonio Spurs (34-48): 6%
Houston Rockets (decide by way of Phoenix Suns): 3.8%
Portland Path Blazers (36-46): 3.7%
Dallas Mavericks (39-43): 1.8%
Chicago Bulls (39-43): 1.7%
Sacramento Kings (40-42): 0.8%
San Antonio Spurs (decide by way of Atlanta Hawks): 0.7%
Additionally, right here aretheir odds of touchdown in every slot courtesy of Tankathon:
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Their greatest odds are to land the place they at the moment sit, they usually can’t decide any increased than eighth or 14th except the lottery blesses them with a high 4 decide. The Hawks decide will both be at 14th or high 4, and the Spurs’ decide can vary anyplace from 8 to 12 or high 4. (In different phrases, in the event you don’t hear Hawks at 14th or the Spurs between twelfth and eighth, they’ll have a high 4 decide.) General, the eighth decide stands a 26.3% likelihood of transferring to the highest 4, whereas the 14th decide has a 3.4% likelihood, so they really have nearly a 30% likelihood of receiving a high 4 decide, which isn’t unhealthy, all issues thought-about.
As soon as we all know the place the Spurs will decide, we can have draft prospect opinions right here at Pounding the Rock, however if you wish to get out forward and begin studying some names, you may take a look at the gamers invited to the Draft Mix.
