How does the NBA lottery work?

The NBA Draft Lottery is held during the forth week in May. All fourteen teams that didn’t make the playoffs during the previous season are eligible to receive one of the first fourteen picks “Lottery Picks” in that year’s draft. The order is selected by weighted, random drawing.

The lottery was instituted so that bad teams, mathematically eliminated from the playoffs towards the end of the season, would not be able to intentionally lose the remainder of their games to secure the top draft pick.

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