-
Andrew LopezESPN
For the fourth time in franchise history, the Orlando Magic have won the NBA lottery and will pick No. 1 in the 2022 NBA Draft.
Orlando had a 14% chance to get the top pick along with the Houston Rockets and the Detroit Pistons.
It’s the Magic’s first chance to pick No. 1 overall since 2004 when they selected Dwight Howard. Orlando also won the lottery in back-to-back years in 1992 (Shaquille O’Neal) and 1993 (Chris Webber, who was traded to Golden State for Penny Hardaway and three future first rounders).
The Oklahoma City Thunder will pick at No. 2, the franchise’s first top four pick since 2009 when they drafted James Harden. The Thunder have a second lottery pick at No. 12 because of the Paul George trade with the Los Angeles Clippers.
At No. 3 will be the Houston Rockets who also picked No. 2 in last year’s draft. It’s the first time the Rockets have picked in the top four in consecutive years since 1983 and 1984.
The Kings had a 7.5% chance to jump into the top four and were the only team to leap into the top group that didn’t have the best four odds. They knocked out the Detroit Pistons who will select fifth now.
The Indiana Pacers will pick at No. 6, the first time they’ve had a top nine pick since 1989.
Because the Los Angeles Lakers pick fell in the top 10 at No. 8, that pick goes to the New Orleans Pelicans as a part of the Anthony Davis trade from the summer of 2019.
The pick had a 99.6% chance of conferring to the Pelicans and if it didn’t it would have gone to the Memphis Grizzlies as a part of the trade that sent Jonas Valanciunas to New Orleans and Steven Adams and Eric Bledsoe to Memphis.
Instead, Memphis gets Cleveland’s 2022 second-round pick via the Pelicans as well as New Orleans’ 2025 second-round pick.