Ever since 1985, the NBA has held an annual lottery system which determines the order of picks for the upcoming draft. The picks of which the lottery system determines are selections 1-14. These are the teams that did not make the playoffs. The rest of the draft is ordered by win-loss record. To determine the winner, fourteen ping pong balls numbered 1–14 are placed in a standard lottery machine and four balls are randomly selected from the lot.  In all, there is a total of 1,001 lottery combinations. The lottery is weighted so that the team which finished with the worst overall record is given a 25% chance in winning the lottery. The team which finished with the second overall record is given a 19.9% chance of winning the lottery. And so on and so forth.

The term “lottery pick” denotes a draft pick whose position in the draft is through the lottery. NBA draft picks are now athletes through the U.S. College Basketball program or other eligible players, like international players. These players chosen in the lottery are expected to become superstars or cornerstone players. Research shows that since 1980, 27 out of the 35 (77%) 1st overall picks went on the become all-star players. Oddly enough more 3rd overall picks went on to become All-Stars than 2nd overall picks (2nd: 34%, 3rd: 49%). In general, teams with losing records hope to strike gold with their high lottery picks, for they could find their new face of the franchise.

It has been noted that recently, teams have been abusing the lottery system in order to land a high draft pick. I mean the system was put into place so teams wouldn’t tank a season for a high draft pick. Yet, the Philadelphia 76ers come to mind when the topic of lottery reform is brought up, for the Sixers have been accused of tampering with the system. Although they technically haven’t broken a rule yet, they are still the topic of conversation. Having a combined record of 37-127 the past two seasons, with 4 first round picks in next year’s draft, the 76ers look to the lottery in their eternal search for their next superstar ever since the departure of Allen Iverson. In all, the NBA lottery could use some reform, but it is the most surefire way in drafting a phenomenal basketball player that could turn your franchise around.