One of the most anticipated events of every NBA offseason is the NBA Draft Lottery and this year, there was a lot on the line! While the season is still technically going on with the playoffs, the offseason has begun in the NBA and with it, NBA Draft time has come.

This year’s NBA Draft Lottery was very similar to past years in terms of teams really needing some luck, but this year was a little different because of all of the implications of some of the picks.

From Houston’s pick potentially going to Oklahoma City, to Chicago’s pick potentially going to Orlando, to Minnesota’s pick potentially going to Golden State, there was a ton of potentially moving around in the draft depending on which ping pong balls were selected. 

At the NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday night, things were going “as planned” based on the odds up until the 8th pick. Chicago was granted the 8th pick in the draft, which meant this pick went to the Orlando Magic as a result of the Nikola Vucevic trade and then the 7th pick went to the Golden State Warriors. 

This was significant because this 7th overall pick is Minnesota’s pick, which went to Golden State since it fell outside of the Top-3 stemming from the D’Angelo Russell trade last season, and this also meant that the Toronto Raptors, who had the 7th best odds in the lottery, moved up inside the Top-4. 

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From here on out, the top of the order was determined with OKC coming in at 6, Orlando coming in at 5, Toronto coming in at 4, Cleveland coming in at 3 and then there were two! The Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons, the two worst teams in the league this year, were the last two teams alive for the #1 pick in this year’s draft and it was rewarded to the Detroit Pistons! 

Now, with the draft order set, it is time to start speculating about which prospects will be drafted where and what potential draft night trades we may see, but before all of that, we have to go back and look at the Draft Lottery.

A lot happened on Tuesday night that was good and bad for a lot of franchises around the league, so let’s dive in and take a look at the biggest “winners” and “losers” from this year’s NBA Draft Lottery. And, of course, the Detroit Pistons were obvious winners landing the No. 1 pick, so they are excluded.