Atlanta Hawks Win Longshot NBA Draft Lottery

On Sunday, the NBA held its annual draft lottery, and it was the Atlanta Hawks, with just a 3% chance of winning, that had its name called for the top spot. A wager on the Hawks to win the lottery paid +3000.

The two cofavorites, the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards, went into the lottery with a 14% chance of winning. The Wizards did get the No. 2 overall pick. But the Pistons, who had a record 28-game losing streak during the regular season, will be picking fifth.

The first 14 picks in this June’s draft are:

1. Atlanta Hawks

2. Washington Wizards

3. Houston Rockets (from Brooklyn Nets)

4. San Antonio Spurs

5. Detroit Pistons

6. Charlotte Hornets

7. Portland Trail Blazers

8. San Antonio Spurs (from Toronto Raptors)

9. Memphis Grizzlies

10. Utah Jazz

11. Chicago Bulls

12. Oklahoma City Thunder (from Rockets)

13. Sacramento Kings

14. Portland Trail Blazers (from Golden State Warriors)

The 36 wins by the Hawks this season makes them the winningest Draft Lottery top pick holder since the 41-win Orlando Magic in 1993. That year, Orlando selected Chris Webber with the No. 1 overall pick, then traded him to the Golden State Warriors for their top pick (No. 3 overall) Penny Hardaway, and three future first-round picks.

First Pick Odds

Last year’s top prize was obvious. Winning the Draft Lottery meant that you were winning the right to draft Victor Wembanyama, the runaway Rookie of the Year.

At the moment, the favorite to go No. 1 overall is Wembanyama’s countryman, Alex Sarr. The Frenchman is 19-years-old, 7-foot-1, and played this past year in Australia with the Perth Wildcats. Sarr is -180 to be the first pick, with another Frenchman, Zaccharie Risacher, the only other realistic option. Risacher is a 6-foot-9 wing who is also 19, playing this past year in France. He’s +250 to be the first overall pick.

There are a host of other players on the board at +2000 or longer, including guard Reed Sheppard, who played for the Kentucky Wildcats, Connecticut’s national championship center, Donovan Clingan, and 18-year-old Serbian point guard Nikola Topić.

Bronny James Odds

The rest of the NBA Draft betting odds will be posted over the next few weeks. But at the moment, along with betting on which player will be selected first, you can wager on the draft fate of Bronny James.

The over/under on draft position for the son of LeBron James is 39.5, which puts him into the top 10 of the second round. The team most likely to draft him is the Los Angeles Lakers, paying +180. No one else is less than +1000. But if for some reason the elder James were to change teams in the next month – the Warriors are +1000 to be his team for 2024-25 – then the odds would certainly shift on who might draft the younger James.