CHICAGO — Tuesday night's NBA draft lottery went off with very little drama, at least as far as the Cavaliers are concerned.
As expected, Cleveland will pick 14th overall in the first round of June's draft by virtue of finishing this season with the best record (44-38) of any team not to make the playoffs. The Cavs entered the annual drawing of the ping pong balls with a mere 0.5% chance at earning the No. 1 overall selection and a less than 3% chance of just moving up into the top four.
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This marks the latest the Cavaliers will pick first since 2015, when they took Tyus Jones 24th overall only to trade his right to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a deal that wound up bringing Cedi Osman to Cleveland. The Cavs have never had a lottery pick this low, although they did previously select Derek Anderson with the 13th pick in 1997 back when there were only 13 teams in the lottery.
In addition to No. 14, the Cavaliers will also have two picks in the second round at Nos. 39 and 56 overall. The team received the selections via trades with the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers, respectively.
As for the rest of the field, the Orlando Magic will pick No. 1 overall for the first time since 2004, when they took legendary center Dwight Howard. The Magic finished last season with the NBA's second-worst record at 22-60 and were tied with three other teams with the best odds to get the top selection at 14%.
Here's the full first-round order, with the lottery picks representing the top 14:
- 1. Orlando Magic
- 2. Oklahoma City Thunder
- 3. Houston Rockets
- 4. Sacramento Kings
- 5. Detroit Pistons
- 6. Indiana Pacers
- 7. Portland Trail Blazers
- 8. New Orleans Pelicans (via Los Angeles Lakers)
- 9. San Antonio Spurs
- 10. Washington Wizards
- 11. New York Knicks
- 12. Oklahoma City Thunder (via Los Angeles Clippers)
- 13. Charlotte Hornets
- 14. Cleveland Cavaliers
- 15. Charlotte Hornets (via New Orleans Pelicans)
- 16. Atlanta Hawks
- 17. Houston Rockets (via Brooklyn Nets)
- 18. Chicago Bulls
- 19. Minnesota Timberwolves
- 20. San Antonio Spurs (via Toronto Raptors)
- 21. Denver Nuggets
- 22. Memphis Grizzlies (via Utah Jazz)
- 23. Philadelphia 76ers
- 24. Milwaukee Bucks
- 25. San Antonio Spurs (via Boston Celtics)
- 26. Dallas Mavericks
- 27. Miami Heat
- 28. Golden State Warriors
- 29. Memphis Grizzlies
- 30. Oklahoma City Thunder (via Phoenix Suns)
