Basketball fans across Maine will soon have a good idea which new NBA jersey they’ll be buying.
A legion of Mainers stands ready to support Newport’s Cooper Flagg and his eventual NBA home. That potential destination will become much clearer on Monday thanks to the NBA draft lottery.
The league’s draft isn’t until June 25, but Monday’s lottery will establish the order of the first 14 picks. With Flagg overwhelmingly expected to be the first overall pick, the team that wins the lottery is also likely to be where Flagg begins his NBA career.
How to watch the draft lottery
The lottery TV coverage will start at 7 p.m. and will be shown on ESPN. The event, which is being held in Chicago, can also be streamed on platforms that feature ESPN coverage including DirectTV Stream, Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, Youtube TV and Sling TV. These platforms require subscriptions but may also offer free trials.
How it works
The 14 teams with the worst records in the NBA this season (or teams that have acquired a lottery pick via a trade) have been assigned odds for potentially receiving the first pick. The teams with the three worst records will each have a 14 percent chance of winning the first pick. The fourth worst team will have a 12.5 percent chance, the fifth worst a 10.5 percent chance, all the way down to the 14th worst team, which will have a .5 percent chance at the top overall pick.
Each team will have a ping pong ball assigned to them, and those 14 balls will be placed in a lottery machine on Monday evening. A combination of four balls will be drawn from the machine to determine the first pick. There are 1,001 possible combinations, and 1,000 of those will be assigned to one of the 14 teams in the lottery.
“All 14 balls are placed in the lottery machine and they are mixed for 20 seconds, and then the first ball is removed,” the NBA explains on its website. “The remaining balls are mixed in the lottery machine for another 10 seconds, and then the second ball is drawn. There is a 10-second mix, and then the third ball is drawn. There is a 10-second mix, and then the fourth ball is drawn. The team that has been assigned that combination will receive the No. 1 pick. The same process is repeated with the same ping-pong balls and lottery machine for the second through fourth picks.”
Who has the best chance of drafting Flagg
The odds for each 14 teams in the lottery are as follows:
- Utah Jazz, 14 percent
- Washington Wizards, 14 percent
- Charlotte Hornets, 14 percent
- New Orleans Pelicans, 12.5 percent
- Philadelphia 76ers, 10.5 percent
- Brooklyn Nets, 9 percent
- Toronto Raptors, 7.5 percent
- San Antonio Spurs, 6 percent
- Houston Rockets (from a trade), 3.8 percent
- Portland Trail Blazers, 3.7 percent
- Dallas Mavericks, 1.8 percent
- Chicago Bulls, 1.7 percent
- Sacramento Kings, 0.8 percent
- San Antonio Spurs (from a trade), 0.7 percent
