The Minnesota Timberwolves won the 2015 NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday night, earning the rights to the No. 1 overall pick in the June 25 draft and the chance to draft a top prospect such as Karl-Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor. The news was announced during a special event broadcast on ESPN, but we didn't get to see the actual drawing.
Watch the official drawing for the 2015 NBA Draft Lottery
Video of the actual drawing for the NBA Draft Lottery reveals how the Knicks dropped out of the top three.
Now you can, as the NBA has released a 12-minute video showing the official drawing of this year's draft lottery. It reveals the process through which the league determines the first 14 picks in the draft order, with NBA vice president of basketball operations Kiki Vandeweghe announcing the results to representatives for the onlooking teams.
The lottery, which determines the first three picks, works by having four balls randomly selected from a special machine to create a four-number combination, which is one of 1,000 possibilities. Each of those possible 1,000 combinations have been assigned to the 14 teams based on their odds, which are determined by regular-season record. The Timberwolves had 250 possible combinations out of 1,000 after finishing with the league’s worst record.
As you’ll see in the video, the league separately draws three different combinations, first for the No. 1 pick, then subsequently for the No. 2 and No. 3 picks. The first combination drawn from the machine Tuesday night was 1-3-6-7, which belonged to the Timberwolves, and therefore awarded them the top pick.
The next combination belonged to the Los Angeles Lakers, who had 119 possible combinations after finishing with the league's fourth-worst record, giving them the No. 2 pick. Another Timberwolves combination was then selected by the machine, forcing another drawing that delivered a combination for the Philadelphia 76ers, who had 156 possible combinations.
Once the top three picks in the draft are determined, the final 11 picks of the lottery are sorted by inverse order of regular season record. That left the New York Knicks, owners of 199 possible combinations, bumped down to the No. 4 pick in the draft.
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